Clause 34 - Notification by scrap metal dealers of destruction of motor vehicles
Vehicles (Crime) Bill
10:00 am
Mr John Bercow (Buckingham, Conservative)
That was a particularly unfortunate intervention, because the answer is no. The Minister would not want me to revisit the portion of my Second Reading speech that dealt with the attack on car crime, for it was a substantial portion, but I made it clear that the Government were a very long way from achieving their target. There was a reduction in vehicle crime of 0.5 per cent. last year, but the Minister is proud of his record as a distinguished mathematician, and he will be aware that even considering the figures on a compound basis, as we would be obliged to do, a 0.5 per cent. cut a year over five years does not a 30 per cent. reduction make, even by the standards of, and allowing for the flexibility deployed by, new Labour.
I am sorry that the Minister made that intervention, and I believe that on reflection he will realise that it was not his finest hour. He can afford a few such slips, but not too many, as he aspires to be, and is likely to become, the leader of the Labour party, and we expect better from him. He is chewing on his spectacles; does he wish to intervene?