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Tag: Alistair Carmichael

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2024 Speech on Prison Capacity

    Alistair Carmichael – 2024 Speech on Prison Capacity

    The speech made by Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrat Justice spokesperson, in the House of Commons on 18 July 2024.

    I also welcome the Lord Chancellor to her new position, and thank her for advance sight of her statement.

    It has been apparent for months that measures of this sort would be necessary. These are described as temporary measures, but 18 months is a very long time for temporary measures. There would be a real danger of damaging public confidence in our criminal system if the measures were to be extended beyond that point.

    The answer surely has to be more than just building more prison capacity. The problem is not that our prison estate is too small; it is that we send too many people to prison, and that the time they spend there does nothing to tackle the problems of drug and alcohol dependency, poor literacy and numeracy skills, and poor mental health, which led to their incarceration. Can we hope to hear in the very near future the Government’s comprehensive plan to tackle the issue of the time that people spend in prison?

    Finally, may I bring to the Lord Chancellor’s attention the report published this morning by His Majesty’s inspectorate of probation on the failings of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough probation delivery unit? That report outlined that our duty of care to those whom we lock up should not end the day they leave custody. When will we have a response to that report?

    Shabana Mahmood

    I welcome the right hon. Gentleman to his place. On the 18-month period, we have inherited a criminal justice system in complete crisis and at risk of total breakdown and collapse. It will take some time, by necessity, for us to be able to put that right. I do not want to mislead the public that somehow these changes will have a quick effect. The system is in dire straits and it will take time to repair it. It is right that we are up front and honest about that time, and I will update the House regularly.

    As I say, this Government’s approach will be very different from that of the last Government. We will have a regular release of data, and I anticipate that I will regularly appear before Members to talk about that data, but I welcome that opportunity because it is important that the public are kept updated, and that their representatives in this place are able to scrutinise what is happening and hold us to account. We will need time for the measures to take effect to enable us to move the system to a position of greater health.

    In terms of who goes to prison, why and for how long, when we have overcrowded prisons, there is no capacity to do much other than hold people in their cells. The activity that we know is important to help people in the prison system to turn their lives around, come out as better citizens and make better choices, having made amends to society, cannot happen in deeply overcrowded prisons. That is why dealing with the capacity crisis is so necessary not just to prevent the collapse of the criminal justice system but to cut reoffending in the long term. Creating some space will allow us to introduce proposals to bring down reoffending rates in the country.

    On probation, I pay tribute to all probation staff for their tremendous work. My first visit in my new role was to meet probation staff in Bedfordshire. I recognise that they have been working in a system and a service under extreme strain and facing real difficulty. That is why we will onboard 1,000 new trainee probation officers before March 2025 to add extra capacity, and why returning the probation system to health will be a key priority for this Government.

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2023 Speech on Relations with China

    Alistair Carmichael – 2023 Speech on Relations with China

    The speech made by Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland, in Westminster Hall, the House of Commons on 16 March 2023.

    It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for East Worthing and Shoreham (Tim Loughton) and the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), who secured the debate. I am reminded of the days when I used to have to read case reports. I would read the lengthy and definitive judgments and then I would come to one that just said, “I concur”, and I would fall on it like manna from heaven. To the two hon. Gentlemen who have already spoken in the debate, I say, “I concur”.

    I will make two points. My first is about the position of people coming here from Hong Kong under the British national overseas sponsorship scheme. Last night, I had the enormous pleasure of spending time at a symposium at the London School of Economics, run by the Hong Kong Public Affairs and Social Services Society. It highlighted the importance of understanding that for all those Hongkongers who have settled here, their arrival is not the end of the story; it is just the beginning. The trauma of leaving their home in the way they had to will have caused many other issues, and our obligation to support them did not stop when they cleared passport control at Heathrow airport.

    My more significant point is about not so much the position that has been outlined at some length, but the approach of Ministers and Government officials in response to it. Today in the main Chamber, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster managed to make a whole statement about TikTok without using the words “China” or “Chinese” once.

    Last Wednesday, in this very Chamber, I initiated a debate on genomics and national security. In his reply, the Minister responding said something quite remarkable:

    “I had been prepared to pay tribute to the work of BGI”

    —that is the Chinese genomics giant—

    “when my officials pointed out that at that point Genomics England was suffering several hack attacks from BGI each week.”—[Official Report, 8 March 2023; Vol. 729, c. 120WH.]

    I know that he was talking off script at that point. I could tell because I was watching him; I could also tell from the way the blood drained from the officials’ faces. The next day in Hansard, there was a letter of ministerial correction. It said:

    “There is no evidence of attempted hacking of Genomics England in 2014 from BGI.”—[Official Report, 9 March 2023; Vol. 729, c. 2MC.]

    Stalin at the height of the Soviet Union could not have improved on that. I have no doubt that the correction was initiated by officials as a consequence of the representations that they then had. Clearly, they were not of a mind to stand up to those representations and the pressure that was being put on them. Genomics needs to be part of our critical national infrastructure; the Government need to move on that. From what we see, the time has now surely come for BGI Group itself to be the subject of a security review by the United Kingdom Government.

    If we are to be serious about the way in which we rebalance our relationship with China, we need to get the balance between trade and human rights right. The right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) and I were both members of Cabinet in the golden age, so we have seen how it used to work. We understand that that has to change. That would be a good point at which the Government could start. If the Minster could express a view on that, I think we would all consider our time today to have been very well spent.

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Alistair Carmichael – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with the National Offender Management Service on the implementation of guidelines on the care and management of transsexual prisoners.

    Caroline Dinenage

    As I informed the Women and Equalities Committee, the National Offender Management Service is currently reviewing the policy document on transgender prisoners to ensure that this continues to provide the most appropriate support for transgender people in custody, as well as extending it to address the needs of transgender people serving community sentences. I will be taking a close personal interest in this to ensure that transgender offenders continue to be appropriately cared for and supported. The intention is to implement the revised guidance in due course.

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she plans to open her Department’s consultation on changes to the Warm Home Discount scheme.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government announced in the Spending Review on 25 November 2015 that the Warm Home Discount scheme would be extended to 2020/21 at current levels of £320m per year, rising with inflation, to help households who are at risk of fuel poverty with their energy bills. Government will publically consult on changes to the scheme later this year.

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-07-11.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when the application for state aid clearance for the remote Scottish islands will be submitted to the European Commission.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government will publish plans for the next Contract for Difference Allocation Round for less established technologies – planned for the end of 2016 – as soon as possible.

    Following this we will work to deliver the round, including submission of any necessary notification to the European Commission.

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-09-02.

    To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of extending visa-free access to the UK to Ugandan citizens.

    Mr Robert Goodwill

    The UK keeps its visa system under regular review. There are currently no plans to change the visa requirements for Ugandan citizens.

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-10-07.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to make Police Scotland eligible for VAT refunds.

    Jane Ellison

    The Government has no intention of bringing forward legislative proposals to make Police Scotland eligible for VAT refunds.

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    Alistair Carmichael – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Justice

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will bring forward proposals to amend the Gender Recognition Act 2004 to remove the requirement for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria as a pre-requisite for obtaining legal gender recognition.

    Caroline Dinenage

    The Government takes transgender equality issues very seriously and has actively contributed towards the Women and Equalities Select Committee’s inquiry into transgender equality. There are no current plans to review the Gender Recognition Act, however the Government will consider the recommendations of the inquiry once they become available.

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-02-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she plans to open her Department’s consultation on changes to the Warm Home Discount scheme.

    Andrea Leadsom

    The Government announced in the Spending Review on 25 November 2015 that the Warm Home Discount scheme would be extended to 2020/21 at current levels of £320m per year, rising with inflation, to help households who are at risk of fuel poverty with their energy bills. Government will publically consult on changes to the scheme later this year.

  • Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    Alistair Carmichael – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Alistair Carmichael on 2016-07-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the status is of the monthly log of flights which passed through Diego Garcia between January 2002 and January 2009; and whether those logs are available to be published.

    Sir Alan Duncan

    The monthly logs between January 2002 and January 2009 along with all other historic flight records held by the FCO, were released to the ISC in December 2015.