Speeches by Shastri-Hurst.

“Nobody would disagree with the Lord Chancellor’s diagnosis—the criminal courts are in crisis. It is the treatment that is in dispute. The question is whether the watering down of jury trials will be the solution, when in fact the problem is a lack of judges, court space and infrastructure, and inefficiencies in the sys…”

“The hon. Gentleman is making a powerful speech, and Lucas’s poem really resonates with that. In my constituency, we have Evac+Chair, which creates evacuation chairs like the ones we have in Parliament. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the current legislation, the stay-put policy from an outdated era—1962—does not rec…”

“The British public are, by nature, a forgiving people. However, does the Chief Secretary to the Treasury not recognise that obfuscation of the kind we have seen over the weekend deeply damages public confidence?”

“The crisis in our criminal justice system is not caused by jury trials but by inefficiencies in the system and a lack of advocates able to prosecute and defend trials, according to the Bar Council and the Criminal Bar Association. When will the Government engage with them, rather than relying solely on Sir Brian’s repo…”

“No, I want to make this point. The difference is that the Chancellor told the media last year that the buck stops with her. She has to own these decisions. As I say, people in this country are asked to live within their means, and they make sacrifices and plan for contingencies. They expect the Government to do the sam…”

“This debate is much broader than mere numbers on a spreadsheet buried in the Treasury; it is about trust, stewardship and the future of our country. That matters because, at the last general election, the now Government and all those elected on their manifesto said they would not raise taxes on “working people”, yet at…”

“The hon. Member may have forgotten the covid pandemic that swept this country, which of course turned the tables, and difficult decisions had to be made.”

“Mistaken releases of prisoners do not just undermine public trust and confidence in the system; they cost money, because the police have to go and find them and return them to prison. Can the Secretary of State set out how much it has cost the police to return prisoners to prison since this Government came to power?”

“Sadly, this is not an isolated case; regrettably, it is a pattern of decline that we are seeing under this Government. Can the Minister tell us how many companies must go under before the Government realise that Great Britain cannot build a resilient and secure energy system by shutting down the energy industry?”

“I have spoken to many anxious parents whose children have not been in receipt of an EHCP or local authority funding but would historically have benefited from independent education provision because of their SEND needs. One of their concerns is that such provision can no longer be afforded because of the imposition of …”

“The Minister has repeatedly said that he is extremely disappointed that this case did not proceed to trial. That is thin gruel if all the steps necessary to ensure that it got to trial were not taken. With that in mind, can he set out whether the report in The Sunday Times over the weekend that the Prime Minister and o…”

“Will the Secretary of State set out how many of the proposed six protections for veterans will also be available to former paramilitaries?”

“In July this year, alongside a cross-party group of parliamentarians and others, I wrote to the then Lord Chancellor seeking a meeting regarding improving gatekeeping and alternative dispute resolution in family court matters. I have not received a response. Can the Lord Chancellor give me the reassurance that such a m…”

“I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak to two specific Lords amendments proposed in turn by Lord Burns and Lord Sharpe in the other place. While addressing different clauses, both amendments essentially come down to the same principle: defending fairness, transparency and democratic legitimacy against narrow se…”

“T9. When will levels of shoplifting finally reduce rather than rise, as they have under this Government?”

“I am Neil Shastri-Hurst. I am the Member of Parliament for Solihull West and Shirley, and my interests are as recorded in the register.”

“Could you set out your assessments of the MOJ’s own research on section 28? Perhaps we can start with Professor Thomas on that front.”

“Can I come in on that question? I think that we all agree, Minister, that victims should be at the centre of any effective criminal justice system. This Committee in the previous Parliament found that there was a lack of confidence in the term “life sentence”, because by virtue of some misreporting or the sense that pe…”

“I am Neil Shastri-Hurst. I am the Member of Parliament for Solihull West and Shirley, and my interests are as recorded in the register.”

“Could you set out your assessments of the MOJ’s own research on section 28? Perhaps we can start with Professor Thomas on that front.”