News

The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill was considered in a Committee of the Whole House on Wednesday 29 Jun 2022. The committee stage of a Bill allows Members to scrutinise it line-by-line, usually in smaller Committees. A Committee of the Whole House is used for legislation of particular constitutional or ethical significance, and is chaired by the Deputy Speaker from a seat at the Table of the House.

The Alliance for Youth Justice and Agenda: The Alliance for Women and Girls at Risk have published a joint report into the experience of young women in the criminal justice system, titled “We’ve Not Given Up”. The report was launched in a well-attended Committee Room 10 on 29 June 2022 at an event chaired by Florence Eshalomi MP. 

Mr Speaker granted two Urgent Questions on Tuesday 28 June 2022. The first was to ask The Secretary of State for Justice to make a statement on the incidence of rape cases not taken forward for criminal prosecution. I was able to ask the Minister the following question:

At Treasury Questions on 28 June 2022, I asked the Chancellor about the work of agencies investigating fraud during the pandemic. 

In October 2019 the Government agreed the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol, to govern trade arrangements between the UK and EU in Northern Ireland, as part of its deal to leave the EU and claimed it was an “oven ready” deal.  Any attempts in Parliament to explain to the Government that woudl mean a border between GB and NI were dismissed.  The Government has now published legislation which seeks to undo parts of the Protocol, the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill.  The Second Reading of the Bill was debated in the Commons on Monday 27 June 2022.