Speeches by Munt.

“Thank you.”

“To check my understanding, I think juries are used in only 1% of criminal trials. I just wonder how much difference it would really make to cut back on those. My sense is that the problem with the criminal justice system is not necessarily having too many juries. So, if replacing jury trials makes up only 1% of all cri…”

“Good afternoon, Sir Brian. My name is Tessa Munt. I am the Member for Wells and Mendip Hills. My interests are also on the register, but I will point out two things: one is that I am not a lawyer and the second is that I am a vice-chair of WhistleblowersUK, which is a non-profit organisation.”

“Thank you. Can I ask you one very specific question? A defendant knows the sentence they are likely to get on a guilty plea at the first Crown court hearing. The judge gives that indication. Would he or she reserve that judgment to themselves, or would the indication be binding on the judge who does the sentencing?”

“That is cool. I have some that I would like to ask you now none the less, bearing in mind the time. They will be fairly quick. I am talking about your recommendation that we should establish a Crown court bench division. I wanted to ask, particularly, how that division would affect the regime for the trial of youth off…”

“Thank you. My next question is one about the magistracy and including magistrates in the Crown court bench division. One might suggest that the magistracy does not always reflect the age and the socioeconomic diversity that one would seek. Is it realistic to expect a huge improvement in the diversity of the magistracy …”

“The day before Prime Minister’s questions last week, we spent hours discussing the Public Office (Accountability) Bill. Bearing in mind that there has been such a crash in public trust and confidence, has the Lord Chancellor considered that it might have been better to have referred to the fact that he knew there was a…”

“I have loads of questions that I wanted to ask you, but I will ask the Chair to submit them to you in writing so that you have the luxury of looking at them.”

“rose—”

“Returning to the conference, is the Minister absolutely certain that all the actors in the region were part of the conference? There has been reference to the United Arab Emirates, and there are other actors in that region who did not seem to be on the list of people she mentioned who might have been here in April.”

“Will the Minister give way, on that point?”

“I welcome this Bill. Will the Prime Minister reassure me and my constituents that organisations that are contractors for public authorities and public bodies will also be covered the provisions of the Bill? It is important that where responsibilities are deferred to other bodies, they too are captured by the clauses in…”

“May I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, and particularly to my role as vice-chair of WhistleblowersUK, a not-for-profit organisation? The Bill places new obligations of transparency and frankness on public authorities and officials, leaving them nowhere to hide from…”

“Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I sought to pick up on the Minister’s and Prime Minister’s intention of ensuring that the Bill is as strong as it can be. The Bill should cover contractors in the private sector as well as the public sector, as was mentioned, if it is to have real teeth and ensure that wrongdoing is ful…”

“rose—”

“My constituent John appealed his business rate demand 13 months ago as the rateable value on his office is incorrect. He tells me that the business rate appeal is taking between a year and 18 months. Will the Leader of the House ask the relevant Minister to improve the check and challenge system to support businesses t…”

“The Minister will see my pile of papers, which I hope are criticisms that I never have to raise again. I welcome his statement and the work being done, particularly by Sir Brian Langstaff and others. I also welcome his intention to listen to and work with the infected blood community. This scandal remains the worst tre…”

“I apologise, Madam Deputy Speaker. Can the Minister confirm that people will not have to wait and that those 10,573 registrations are only part of it, when we recognise that there are 30,000 victims?”

“I would like to draw attention to two cases in my constituency, one of which I have spoken about before in this place, in which a lady called Lorraine lost her life. It involved somebody who was driving, possibly while looking at their mobile phone, and again, that person did not go to prison. It is tragic that my hon.…”

“On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I want to put it on the record that there has unfortunately been a blip on today’s version of the Sentencing Bill’s amendment paper. While I did put my name to several new clauses, I did not put my name to amendments 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 22, 23, 31, 32, 33, 34 or 35.”