Part of Orders of the Day — Crime (Sentences) Bill – in the House of Commons at 9:45 pm on 13 January 1997.
That was one of the most incredibly complacent speeches that I have heard for many years from a Home Office Minister. Any visitor from outer space who examined the Home Office's own research would know without a shadow of a doubt that most offences committed in the United Kingdom are committed under the influence of alcohol or drugs. It is high time that we started taking the matter more seriously.