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Racial Harassment
24. Mr. John Marshall: To ask the Attorney-General if he will make a statement about recent prosecutions for racial harassment. [14434]
The Attorney-General: Since 1 January 1995, there have been 21 applications for consent to prosecute under part III of the Public Order Act 1986 for offences of incitement to racial hatred, of which 19 have been granted, one has been refused and one has been withdrawn.
Mr. Marshall: Does my right hon. and learned Friend agree that the fact that Sheik Bakri and Mr. al-Masari can spew forth racist hatred with impunity demonstrates the need for the law to be strengthened so that they can be prosecuted rather than pampered by social security?
The Attorney-General: Without wishing to comment on an individual case, I should say to my hon. Friend that, if he knows of evidence of people seeking to stir up racial hatred or behaving in such a way that racial hatred is likely to be stirred up, that evidence should be given to the police. My hon. Friend will recognise from the figures that I have given that increasing evidence has been forthcoming in the past two years and that the number of
prosecutions has increased significantly in recent years. I invite him or anyone else who might have such evidence to pass it to the police so that the matter can be properly considered by the prosecuting authorities.
Mr. Winnick: On racial harassment, is not it a matter of the gravest concern that the murderers of Stephen Lawrence have yet to be brought to justice? Perhaps the Attorney-General can understand the sheer agony felt by his parents that justice has been denied and mocked. If it is right for newspapers--as indeed it is--to campaign on behalf of those in prison whom they believe are innocent, why should not a newspaper, to its credit, campaign against those whom it believes are responsible for one of the most foul racially motivated murders in recent times? I congratulate the Daily Mail.
The Attorney-General: The whole House will once again wish to express its sympathy to the parents of Stephen Lawrence, who was attacked and murdered in an entirely unprovoked racist attack at a bus stop. The hon. Gentleman will know that it is not because of lack of effort that it has not been possible to bring that case to a conclusion. A prosecution was initiated by the Crown Prosecution Service in 1993, but it was discontinued because of lack of evidence. A private prosecution was brought in 1995, but the judge stopped it precisely because the identification evidence was entirely unreliable. However, should evidence in that case or in other cases be forthcoming, it will be examined. There is no lack of will to prosecute such cases.
Mr. Sumberg: I support the plea made by my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon, South (Mr. Marshall), particularly in relation to the al-Masari case, in which evidence has been presented to the prosecution authorities yet no action has been taken. Is not the concern that there is a lack of will in the CPS to take the action necessary to bring such people before the courts?
The Attorney-General: I assure my hon. Friend that there is absolutely no lack of will. If he--who is himself a lawyer--believes that there is evidence in that case and wishes to present it, it is open to him to draw it to the police's attention. All such cases are examined extremely carefully, and, as I have said, statistics demonstrate a substantial increase in the number of prosecutions in recent years.
Criminal Offences (Police Officers)
25. Mr. Ainger: To ask the Attorney-General what reports the Crown Prosecution Service has received relating to allegations of police officers being involved in protecting illegal Jamaican immigrants from deportation and prosecution for criminal offences. [14435]
The Solicitor-General: The Crown Prosecution Service has received no reports about criminal offences alleged to have been committed by police officers in the type of matters referred to by the hon. Gentleman.
Mr. Ainger: Is the Solicitor-General aware of the case of Delroy Denton, a yardie who came into this country illegally, was known to the immigration service as an illegal immigrant and was then run as an informer by
Metropolitan police officers? Is he aware that Mr. Denton raped a 15-year-old girl while serving as an informant of the Metropolitan police, that he was released in very unusual circumstances and that he later raped and murdered another woman, leaving two children orphaned? Is he aware that no Metropolitan police officer or Home Office immigration official has been disciplined? Does he agree that that is outrageous, and that there should be a full inquiry into those matters?
The Solicitor-General: The place for such allegations to be investigated is in the courts. The cases of Denton and others, which were referred to in the article to which the hon. Gentleman refers, are still going through the courts. They are not yet completed, and they are sub judice. I should tell him that "information received"--as it is usually referred to--is a very powerful investigation and prosecution tool in the criminal courts. Without it, justice would not be served.
Crown Prosecution Service (Book Expenditure)
26. Mr. Harry Greenway: To ask the Attorney-General how much the Crown Prosecution Service has spent on legal text books and what main publications have been purchased in each of the past three years; and if he will make a statement. [14436]
The Solicitor-General: In the past three full years, such expenditure totalled £985,355, £814,467 and
£705,830 respectively. The main publications purchased were "Archbold Criminal Pleading, Evidence and Practice", "Stone's Justices' Manual" and "Wilkinson's Road Traffic Offences"--three textbooks that will be very well known to the right hon. and learned Member for Aberavon (Mr. Morris).
Mr. Greenway: I thank my hon. and learned Friend for his answer. Would those textbooks have been available to the Daily Mail in its treatment of the alleged murderers of Stephen Lawrence? What advice would he find in those books if he were to respond--if he is yet able to say what he will do--to the invitation to my right hon. and learned Friend the Attorney-General to comment on the Daily Mail's action? Does he think that a civil case could succeed in the light of what the Daily Mail has done?
The Solicitor-General: When it comes to legal advice, I am sure that the Daily Mail need spare no expense, unlike the Crown Prosecution Service, which must have regard to proper expenditure. On my hon. Friend's specific question, it would appear that no proceedings can be brought under the Contempt of Court Act 1981 because no proceedings currently exist. My right hon. and learned Friend has already announced that he is giving common law contempt careful consideration and hopes to announce his decision as soon as practicable.
POINT OF ORDER
3.30 pm
Mr. Peter Thurnham (Bolton, North-East): On a point of order, Madam Speaker. Should not the Secretary of State for Health be here to make a statement about adoption? He has been on the radio announcing his plans to change the rules. Should he not tell us directly and allow us to question him, not least on why he is axing the overseas adoption helpline?
Madam Speaker: I have not been informed that the Secretary of State for Health or any Minister intends to make a statement today.
Orders of the Day
Opposition Day
[5th Allotted Day]
BSE Crisis
Madam Speaker: We have before us an Opposition day on the BSE crisis. Because of the number of hon. Members seeking to catch my eye during this debate, speeches between the hours of 7 pm and 9 pm will have to be limited to 10 minutes.
3.31 pm
Dr. Gavin Strang (Edinburgh, East): I beg to move,
- That this House believes that, in view of the Government's incompetent handling of the BSE and beef crises and its failure to make the promised progress towards lifting the ban on the export of beef and beef products, the salary of the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food should be reduced by £1,000.
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