Address in Reply to Her Majesty's Most Gracious Speech

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 3:30 pm on 1 December 2003.

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Photo of Baroness Anelay of St Johns Baroness Anelay of St Johns Conservative 3:30, 1 December 2003

My Lords, I thank the Minister for introducing this part of the debate on the Address in the manner in which she has done so. All governments have a duty to protect their citizens, when they are unable to protect themselves. Any measures that the Government introduce this year that seek to achieve that without any improper or undue assault on civil liberties will attract our strong support.

I shall address my remarks to Home Office issues only. I appreciate that the noble Baroness may address health matters; my noble friend Lord Howe will speak on those later. The noble Baroness rightly put her remarks in the context of matters of justice. I know that, on other days, my noble friends will address issues relating to civil partnerships, so I shall not encroach on those matters today.

As the noble Baroness said, we have two draft Home Office Bills to consider this year. I was, as I am sure she expected, tantalised by the prospect of a third Bill, one on corporate manslaughter. That will be a serious matter and will attract much comment not only from the legal fraternity but from many interest groups.

The Bills that we will soon have in front of us are those on identity cards and charities. I have no doubt that my noble friends on the Back Benches will give detailed and robust consideration to those Bills, when the committees are formed. The Home Secretary has claimed, as the noble Baroness did today, that identity cards are needed, so that the Government can tackle crime, fraud, illegal immigration and terrorism. The problem is that, so far, the Home Secretary has failed to demonstrate the benefits that identity cards would bring. He is yet to provide clear safeguards for our civil liberties, and some of his Cabinet colleagues have, over the past few weeks, made it clear to the press that the Home Secretary has failed even to persuade them that the scheme should go ahead. It is right that the Government should confine the matter to a draft Bill at the moment, so that we can give it rigorous scrutiny.

The Minister referred to the charities Bill. We look forward to making good progress on it. The Minister is right to say that charities have long sought legislation. Whether or not the Bill reflects the detail of what they want, they support the principle that the Minister outlined today. Charities play a valuable role in all areas of public life, but they are often held back by unwieldy bureaucracy. I hope that the Bill will not be heavily bureaucratic. We will want to examine closely the Government's new legal definition of "charity", which must not be used to undermine the valuable work of existing charities, particularly those in, for example, the education sector.

I turn to the two important Home Office Bills that lie ahead in this Session. As always, we wait to hear how many extra government Bills are waiting in the wings for our enjoyment. One of the Bills has, in its Short Title—it seems like a long one—the word "crime". The Government could, I suppose, treat it as a Christmas tree Bill. It might be that what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. We shall see what happens.

There is to be a Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill. I recognise, as the Minister rightly did, the concern raised by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Ackner, about the way in which we use the word "victim" in a context in which it could mean an alleged victim or somebody who had, in fact, suffered some injury. I hope that the noble and learned Lord will forgive me for using the abbreviated form "victim". Like the Minister, I recognise that, although, in every case, somebody alleges that they have suffered damage, they cannot be called a "victim" until that damage has been proved in a legal context. I know that organisations that put together statistics include all those who have claimed damage, as well as those who have been proved to have suffered damage. I suspect that one of the Government's driving motives is a concern that people who are, indeed, victims have, because of problems in the system, been unable to prove that they are. Such victims will always feel aggrieved. We share the Government's concern about that.

We have always made it clear that we would welcome new legislation on domestic violence. Part of the Bill relates to domestic violence. It is an appalling crime that, by its very nature, often remains hidden behind closed doors. We have said and will continue to say that we will work constructively with the Government to introduce effective legislation to protect the victims. The noble Lord, Lord Warner, will respond this evening. Does he agree that tackling domestic violence is not necessarily a matter primarily of legislation? We already have legislation that could be used more effectively. What we must do is tackle the culture that regards domestic violence as somehow acceptable.

I am disappointed by one measure. The Government have not yet set a date for the start of their telephone helpline for victims of domestic violence. I would be grateful if the Minister could say why it has not been possible to set that date. The House will know that there is huge demand from the victims of violence that the current helplines, run by national charities, can barely meet. The Government's delay is especially disappointing, given that two women die every week as a result of violence by a current or former partner. A quarter of violent crime occurs in the home.

The noble Baroness rightly said that, every day, thousands of children witness cruelty and violence at home. In considering the Bill, we should not confine our attention to violence against women. We must recognise that domestic violence can also affect wider family relationships.

I read with interest the Victim Support publication, Criminal Neglect: No justice beyond criminal justice. As it points out, being a victim of crime may, for some people, be a minor inconvenience, but, for many others, it can be a devastating experience, and it can take weeks, months or even years for people to begin to pick up the pieces. For a large proportion of victims, being a victim of crime is not an isolated event but an ongoing experience. Some surveys have shown that 4 per cent of victims suffer 41 per cent of crimes.

Experience shows that a person's ability to recover from an offence can be considerably improved when others recognise the significance of the event. Sadly, that is not the experience of most victims, so we welcome the Government's commitment to raising the standards of service that victims of crime receive from the criminal justice agencies. However, the blame lies not just with the agencies; the system does not fail entirely, and there are those in the criminal justice agencies who work valiantly to assist victims and alleged victims.

I hope that the Bill will not foist more bureaucracy upon us, as a means of trying to achieve a better service. We should not go down that route. A commissioner for victims or witnesses will, I hope, achieve much, but he or she will achieve little, if tied up in targets and made remote from the people who need help. In passing legislation to help victims, we must not let them down by drowning them in the toxic waste of bureaucracy. The truth is that, if victims are asked what they really want, they do not clamour for a commissioner or for counselling; they want the offender to be caught, so that he cannot commit the offence again. If they could wave a magic wand, they would wish that the offence had not happened in the first place. Overall, that is what the Government need to address.

I turn now to the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc) Bill. If anyone could persuade us to still our beating hearts on this matter, it would be the Minister. She made an extremely valiant attempt; she will return when the Bill comes before this House. But I must tell her that my heart is still beating far too fast for my own health on this matter.

This is the Government's third Bill on the issue as they try to patch up the failures of their policy so far. Last week, the Government said that the Bill is the final stage in their reforms. I hope so: I remember all too well that they said exactly the same about the last Bill last year. Perhaps we may hear the same again next year. For everyone's sake, I hope not; particularly for the sake of those who come to these shores with justice behind them and who should be welcomed here.

Last week, the Government invited us to celebrate a reduction in the number of people making asylum applications. On 27th November, my right honourable friend David Davis said:

"We welcome the fact that the number of asylum seekers has apparently come down, but these figures should be treated with a large amount of scepticism. How much of the fall can be explained by the vast increase in the number of work permits? How much of the fall can be explained by the Government turning a blind eye to illegal immigrants?".

Even the Home Secretary admitted that he does not have a clue about the number of illegal immigrants who are in the United Kingdom now.

Some parts of the Bill, which are new or seem to be new, will be welcome. We shall look forward to investigating them thoroughly and to giving them a fair wind. Perhaps I may take an example; namely, the proposal to introduce a new offence of human trafficking for non-sexual exploitation, with a maximum penalty of 14 years' imprisonment. That is new to this Bill, but it is not a new matter altogether. With some pleasure, I recall the valiant efforts made by the noble Earl, Lord Sandwich, last year when he introduced similar amendments to the previous Bill. I hope that he will achieve his objectives this time.

Much of the rest of the Bill appears to be a story of building on failure and not building on success. A Home Office press release dated 27th November stated that key measures in the Bill would,

"introduce a new speed and finality to the appeals and removals process".

That is exactly what we were told last year as regards the previous Bill. We warned the Government that their proposals would create an avalanche of judicial reviews. In particular, my noble and learned friend Lord Mayhew of Twysden, gave repeated good advice, but, repeatedly, his advice was rejected. Now they must deal with the consequences. We argued that it was vital to ensure that the first decision was accurate, but still 20 per cent of first decisions are wrong and are overturned on appeal.

The UNHCR has made a valuable offer to the Government in its comments on the Bill, published last Wednesday. It is prepared to lend its good offices to the UK Government with the aim of achieving an improvement in the overall quality of decision making. I should be grateful if the Minister would tell us the Government's reply to that offer. Can the Minister give an assurance that the new restrictions on legal aid for asylum applications will not prevent those with a rightful claim for asylum from taking their case to successful appeal?

Another major problem for the Government is also of their own making; namely, their failure to remove those people who have no right to remain here. Recently, they have come up with two solutions, neither of which covers the Government in glory. The first solution, unveiled on 24th October, was simple; that is, not to remove people at all. The Government announced an amnesty for up to 15,000 families in this country, awaiting determinations, who claimed asylum before 2nd October 2000. Those families will now be eligible for leave to remain. The problem is that that solution must have sent out the wrong signal—I hope that it is the wrong signal—suggesting that the Government are not serious about getting the system right, but just want to get the figures right, whatever it takes.

The Government's second approach to the removal of people is in the new Bill. Last week, an official Home Office spokesman told the press that it is backed by the Government's intention to take the children of asylum seekers into care to force asylum seekers to return home, which many people consider to be deeply distasteful. The Minister put that issue in a slightly different context today. I was interested in her explanation. I shall read carefully what she said. But what she said was not borne out by the Home Office spokesman last week. If her explanation reflects further consideration by the Government, I am grateful.

When my right honourable friend Michael Howard raised the issue in another place last week, the Prime Minister had the opportunity to deny reports of the proposal. He did not do so. As a result, to give the Government a further opportunity to respond, my right honourable friend wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister asking him to put on the record whether he still intends to implement that particular proposal. If so, how does the Prime Minister intend to do that? Are the Government relying on this Bill or on some other legislation?

I am the first to recognise that when benefit is withdrawn from asylum seekers who have no genuine claim, local authorities sometimes might need to take action to protect children. I do that because when the section to withdraw benefits from families was introduced in the Government's Bill last year, I was aware that it was a policy that we first introduced and that was being reintroduced by the Government. But there is a great difference between us.

When we introduced our measure, we did not make any claim about taking children into care as being a background to persuading people to leave this country, nor was there ever any intention that that should occur. Asylum and immigration policy needs to be firm, efficient and fair, but we have concerns about the Bill. Our concern is that, above all, policy needs to be humane. We shall work constructively to achieve that.