If more former Ministers stayed in the Commons, it would be a more effective chamber.
We controlled Covid in our prisons, kept the courts running throughout lockdown, and were the first in the western world to resume jury trials.
The centre isn’t where he or ConservativeHome or anyone else wants it to be. It’s where it is – “Far From Notting Hill”.
New powers need to be applied pro-actively and even-handedly if they are to do any good. Recent experience doesn’t fill us with confidence.
It’s always done so, and Covid-19 has offered further cover – despite encouraging figures.
Imposing collective guilt on a group is fundamentally unconservative. I hope never to see our Party dabble with it.
Those MPs voting for the Bill today must make clear their intent to improve it later stages – and protect our civil liberties.
An interesting mental exercise is to identify an institution that expands through failure. I can only come up with one – prisons.
I urge both sides to continue to work together so that our peoples can go about their daily lives free from avoidable harm.
Introduced with the best of intentions, they have grown and morphed beyond reason – more so than Macpherson could surely have imagined.
Sadly, reports of thefts have surged in the UK, and now litter many local Facebook groups. And then there’s puppy-smuggling.
If we impose yet more draconian prison sentences to win a political arms race, the burdens on the taxpayer will become unsustainable.
In the Thames Valley, we are reaching those individuals who find themselves in hospital but would normally shun the police.
The prominence of Russians in the UK means that the UK can play an outside role in making the migraine even worse.
It now needs to get real. This is clearly the plan in the next few months, starting with the Queen’s Speech tomorrow, leading to the Levelling Up paper.