Clause 6 - Making of order

Part of Proceeds of Crime Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 10:30 am on 15 November 2001.

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Photo of Ian Davidson Ian Davidson Labour/Co-operative, Glasgow Pollok 10:30, 15 November 2001

I am prepared to accept that there are some in the legal profession who, through particular incidents, have experienced the bad effects of drugs. If he is arguing that all judges should be beaten up regularly, as a valuable learning experience, that is a proposal that I will reflect on. I might move an amendment on it later.

The hon. Gentleman is missing the point about the effect of crime in communities such as my own. It is not about individual incidents, but about the cumulative, corrosive effect day in, day out. It is about people being confined to their homes after 5 o'clock. It is about mothers telling me that they must go out to the shops before 1 o'clock because a horde of yobs get out of their beds at lunchtime and start rampaging through the streets. If people do not get their shopping done by then, they might not get home with any change—or, sometimes, with any of their shopping. It is a cumulative effect, and I do not believe that any judge or person high up in the legal system lives in such circumstances. If the hon. Gentleman can come up with one, I shall be happy to meet him or her.