Part of Criminal Justice and Courts Bill – in the House of Commons at 3:15 pm on 17 June 2014.
The hon. Gentleman is being generous in giving way. He carefully avoided the question of my hon. Friend Sir Bob Russell about whether he had had a look at the Home Affairs Committee report on knife crime. I urge him to do so. It is clearly against mandatory sentencing, but it also highlights that evidence suggests that the prospect of a custodial sentence may not deter young people from carrying knives. Does he accept that evidence from many people? Has he seen any evidence to the contrary?