:00:09. > :00:15.Welcome to BBC Parliament's coverage from the House of Commons. In one
:00:16. > :00:21.hour, David Cameron will make a statement on the current situation
:00:22. > :00:24.in Syria. Yesterday he said that the UK cannot afford to wait for a
:00:25. > :00:30.political settlement in Syria before it acts to target the Islamic State
:00:31. > :00:32.terror group. Before that the Leader of the House will announce
:00:33. > :00:36.forthcoming business and take questions from backbenchers. MPs
:00:37. > :00:42.then spend the rest of the day on a backbench business debate regarding
:00:43. > :00:46.the Airports Commission. Joined me for a round-up of the day in both
:00:47. > :00:49.Houses of Parliament at 11pm this evening. First, we have questions to
:00:50. > :01:13.the Attorney-General. Order. Order. Questions to the
:01:14. > :01:20.Attorney-General. Mr Alan Brown. Number one. With your permission I
:01:21. > :01:26.will answer this along with question nine. It is a long-standing
:01:27. > :01:30.convention that law officers advice is not published, however as the
:01:31. > :01:34.honourable gentleman will know, the Prime Minister is setting out today
:01:35. > :01:40.the case for taking further action in Syria, and he will also set out
:01:41. > :01:45.the legal basis for doing so. I hope the Scottish media are listening in
:01:46. > :01:49.terms of publication of legal advice when they think about the Scottish
:01:50. > :01:55.parliament. I welcome the fact there will be discussion later on, but I
:01:56. > :01:58.still think it is really important to have full disclosure of legal
:01:59. > :02:03.advice, rather than just part of the Prime Minister was a statement,
:02:04. > :02:06.because we need to learn lessons from Iraq, when the government of
:02:07. > :02:14.that they went backwards and forwards with legal advice until
:02:15. > :02:16.they got answers they wanted. I think you will see that the legal
:02:17. > :02:24.basis for action in the government's view is set out in what
:02:25. > :02:29.the Prime Minister wants to see. He responded as he said he would to the
:02:30. > :02:34.foreign affairs select committee report, and his responses published
:02:35. > :02:36.this morning. Regarding the legal advice the law officers give, it is
:02:37. > :02:41.our view that the convention is there for good reason, and there are
:02:42. > :02:47.two reasons. The first is to enable legal advice to be given to
:02:48. > :02:50.government in a frank and open way, that is best done when advice is not
:02:51. > :02:54.published. Secondly, the advice is part of the collective
:02:55. > :03:00.responsibility of Cabinet decision-making, and there is good
:03:01. > :03:06.reason for that also why it is not published. Does he not realise that
:03:07. > :03:10.in an open, transparent democracy, it is not good enough to rely on
:03:11. > :03:16.convention, and for the House to understand the legal basis for which
:03:17. > :03:20.bombing may be given, it is absolutely vital that members should
:03:21. > :03:30.be trusted with this information, so could I appeal to him to reverse his
:03:31. > :03:33.decision? As I said, members on the House on all sides will have a
:03:34. > :03:39.chance to understand what the legal basis for the proposals will be.
:03:40. > :03:42.There is a distinction to be made between the legal basis for action
:03:43. > :03:47.and the precise advice that law officers give. For the reasons I
:03:48. > :03:56.have explained, I do not think it is sensible in an open and transparent
:03:57. > :03:59.democracy to publish that advice. In the absence of United Nations
:04:00. > :04:04.security council resolution to 249, there were arguments that air
:04:05. > :04:12.strikes were legal. Does he agree that in light of that, the legal
:04:13. > :04:16.case has been strengthened? I agree that there were legal grounds for
:04:17. > :04:18.action in the absence of the resolution. Such a resolution is not
:04:19. > :04:23.necessary to justify action of this kind, in my view, but it is useful
:04:24. > :04:27.that what the resolution does is underlined the logic for action in
:04:28. > :04:35.the way that we are setting out today. So I agree with him. He might
:04:36. > :04:39.say it is not necessary, but would he think it would be better if a
:04:40. > :04:47.chapter seven resolution endorsing military action against Isis was
:04:48. > :04:49.passed at the United Nations, has the government made any attempt to
:04:50. > :04:55.achieve a resolution, and which countries does he think would block
:04:56. > :04:59.such a resolution? He will realise that the resolution that has been
:05:00. > :05:02.secured was secured with unanimous support of the security council, and
:05:03. > :05:16.it indicates that all necessary measures should taken to counter
:05:17. > :05:22.Isil. The case were legal action is not dependent on a resolution, but
:05:23. > :05:27.what has been agreed in the Security Council underlines the case we are
:05:28. > :05:30.making, which is that action should be taken and there is a basis for
:05:31. > :05:40.doing so. President Hollande has said France is at war with Daesh,
:05:41. > :05:45.but my understanding is no one has declared war on anyone. What are the
:05:46. > :05:50.merits and demerits of a formal declaration of war? We must be very
:05:51. > :05:57.careful not to dignify Daesh with the status it does not deserve. It
:05:58. > :06:01.seems very clear that what we are doing is setting out a basis under
:06:02. > :06:09.which this country is entitled to defend itself from what constitutes
:06:10. > :06:13.a threat, not just from other states, but from other terrorist
:06:14. > :06:22.organisations, and in my view, Daesh falls into the latter. The Crown
:06:23. > :06:27.Prosecution Service has recently revised its disability hate crime
:06:28. > :06:37.legal guidance for prosecutors, and as part of its commitment for
:06:38. > :06:43.improving prosecutions, they will all be completed by the end of this
:06:44. > :06:47.year. I am grateful. Can he say what contacts have been made between
:06:48. > :06:53.governmental agencies to better governmental agencies to better
:06:54. > :07:01.foster an approaching addressing hate crime? -- and approach in
:07:02. > :07:05.addressing hate crime? Myself and the Minister for disabled people set
:07:06. > :07:12.up and took part in a ministerial Round Table to deal with that
:07:13. > :07:17.point, particularly on issues such as Victim Support, the quality of
:07:18. > :07:21.reporting and confidence within the disability community about the way
:07:22. > :07:34.in which the criminal justice system treats them. In October this year,
:07:35. > :07:37.the PSNI launched a new online campaign where 42 disabled hate
:07:38. > :07:46.crimes were recorded on a six-month period. Two years ago they contacted
:07:47. > :07:51.the disability rights charity, and they have set up an advocacy scheme
:07:52. > :08:00.to help disabled people to seek and gain access. Does he feel that
:08:01. > :08:06.something he consider? I commend the work of the charity. In England and
:08:07. > :08:18.Wales in 2012, 60 5000 cases involving a disability hate element
:08:19. > :08:29.were recorded in the crime survey. -- 65,000. What steps has the Crown
:08:30. > :08:33.presentation service taken to ensure the reliability of evidence in
:08:34. > :08:43.relation to crimes allegedly committed 30 or 40 years ago? -- 30
:08:44. > :08:48.to 40 years ago? No, it is not stretching of the question, it is a
:08:49. > :08:56.departure from it! Ingenious, but flawed. The sad reality is that hate
:08:57. > :09:01.crime is a growing problem. A young Muslim and was racially abused when
:09:02. > :09:06.hometown of Newcastle on Saturday. hometown of Newcastle on Saturday.
:09:07. > :09:10.Thankfully her attacker was chased off by outraged passengers, but not
:09:11. > :09:19.Geordie Angels. Over 30% of Geordie Angels. Over 30% of
:09:20. > :09:23.prosecutions for hate crimes at failing. Does the government share
:09:24. > :09:34.the concern that victims are being let down and these crimes are being
:09:35. > :09:39.unpunished? I am grateful for her raising that case. I was at a
:09:40. > :09:44.conference only a few weeks ago at the police National College, where
:09:45. > :09:51.disability hate crime and other hate crime were on the agenda. The CPS is
:09:52. > :09:56.enhancing training for all the leads in their regions, so I think there
:09:57. > :09:58.will be a renewed emphasis on giving victims confidence that the system
:09:59. > :10:08.will work for them, rather than against them. I will answer this
:10:09. > :10:10.question along with questions four and eight. Communications data is in
:10:11. > :10:14.central form of evidence used in prosecutions across the full
:10:15. > :10:17.spectrum of criminal offences, spectrum of criminal offences,
:10:18. > :10:22.crime, child sexual abuse, murder crime, child sexual abuse, murder
:10:23. > :10:26.capability is maintained and capability is maintained and
:10:27. > :10:30.modernised, so the government has published the draft investigatory
:10:31. > :10:33.Powers Bill. In the light of that, does he agree that we need to
:10:34. > :10:41.continue to improve our data communications capability? I do
:10:42. > :10:47.agree. It is important to recognise that the cases in which this type of
:10:48. > :10:56.evidence is very significant range well beyond terrorism cases into,
:10:57. > :10:57.for example, serious and organised crime cases, where 95% of those
:10:58. > :11:06.investigations in which the CPS involved communications data. Can he
:11:07. > :11:09.assure us that any government Parliament should not seek to
:11:10. > :11:11.protect its most senior manager from protect its most senior manager from
:11:12. > :11:14.prosecution by claiming prosecution by claiming
:11:15. > :11:17.communication data is no longer available after 30 days, and should
:11:18. > :11:31.strive to be transparent in complying to Data Protection Act
:11:32. > :11:33.requests? I'm sure you would not likely to go into the details of
:11:34. > :11:34.individual cases, but I believe that all organisations should take very
:11:35. > :11:36.seriously their responsibilities seriously
:11:37. > :11:39.under the Data Protection Act and under the Data Protection Act and
:11:40. > :11:46.under all other legislation. In addition to the fancies he is
:11:47. > :11:49.already alluded to, is it not the already alluded to, is it not the
:11:50. > :11:56.help secure prosecutions and areas help secure prosecutions and areas
:11:57. > :11:59.grooming? He is right, and there are grooming? He is right, and there are
:12:00. > :12:04.which this could be relevant. All which this could be relevant. All
:12:05. > :12:07.types of offending, whether or not types of offending, whether or not
:12:08. > :12:10.someone is communicating with another person or where they were
:12:11. > :12:13.when they did so, is relevant. One can think of conspiracies, cases
:12:14. > :12:20.involving paedophile rings, drug smuggling operations and witness
:12:21. > :12:43.intimidation or something as diverse as insider trading.
:12:44. > :13:03.The outrage in Paris showed that there should be no safe place online
:13:04. > :13:08.for terrorists or those who wish to do less harm. Would you say what
:13:09. > :13:13.additional measures can be taken to ensure everybody in the UK remain
:13:14. > :13:19.safe? It cannot be a sustainable position to find ourselves in that a
:13:20. > :13:28.terrorist atrocity being planned by telephone could be intercepted, but
:13:29. > :13:30.one being done over WhatsApp could not be stopped there for the Bill is
:13:31. > :13:38.entirely necessary to avoid the kind entirely necessary to avoid the kind
:13:39. > :13:52.of atrocity is my honourable friend describes. The CPS launched a joint
:13:53. > :14:48.stalking protocol with the police in December of 2014 and revised legal
:14:49. > :15:26.guidance to prosecutors and deliver training on stalking offences which
:15:27. > :15:29.last year. The CBS works closely last year. The CBS works closely
:15:30. > :15:30.are not in giving restraining increase
:15:31. > :15:30.orders. It already takes a victim orders. It already takes a victim
:15:31. > :15:30.100 cases of harassment before the seriousness of stalking, it is
:15:31. > :15:32.stalking and harassment is absolutely no joke and I join her in
:15:33. > :15:33.absolutely no joke and I join her in deal with serious crime in a way
:15:34. > :15:34.conviction and acquittal where concern that the new stalking
:15:35. > :15:36.provisions are not being used and harassment provisions are being used
:15:37. > :15:39.instead. Can you indicate that there should be... That the seriousness of
:15:40. > :15:43.the offence should be addressed? I am great role to you. When I was
:15:44. > :15:46.part of the all-party group, we said then that it was vital that the law
:15:47. > :15:48.was used to its full extent. There is a non-exhaustive list of the
:15:49. > :15:49.types of stalking behaviour that exist and that means prosecutors
:15:50. > :15:53.should look at this in a wide way should look at this in a wide way
:15:54. > :15:54.and apply the full extent of the law wherever and whenever appropriate. I
:15:55. > :15:56.meet regularly with ministerial colleagues to discuss issues of
:15:57. > :15:58.common interest including on domestic and international human
:15:59. > :16:00.rights law. I am not able to talk about the legal content of the
:16:01. > :16:03.discussions because, by convention, where the the offices have delivered
:16:04. > :16:05.advice or not is not disclosed. Do you agree with your predecessor that
:16:06. > :16:11.the European convention on human rights is, and I croak, the single
:16:12. > :16:16.most important legal instrument to promote human rights on our planet?
:16:17. > :16:20.-- quote. I have no quarrel with the wording of the European Convention
:16:21. > :16:24.of human rights but what I disagree with is the way the document has
:16:25. > :16:38.been interpreted by the Strasberg caught subsequent to its drafting.
:16:39. > :16:44.-- court. The former Justice Minister has said that I deftly do
:16:45. > :16:49.not want Great Britain to withdraw from the convention because it would
:16:50. > :16:53.appear that the UK is no longer committed to human rights when it
:16:54. > :16:57.is. It will damage our country's reputation. Howlingly ensure that
:16:58. > :17:03.the government plans to scrap it will not weaken the country's
:17:04. > :17:06.rights? It is important to be clear what we are talking about. There is
:17:07. > :17:09.a distinction between the Human Rights Act which we want to get rid
:17:10. > :17:15.of, and the convention, which we do not want to leave unless we have do.
:17:16. > :17:18.What we must do something about is a situation where decisions such as
:17:19. > :17:24.those who has the franchise in British elections must be taken by
:17:25. > :17:31.this House and not by a court in Strasbourg. Of course, it is true
:17:32. > :17:34.that this country will remain committed to human rights with or
:17:35. > :17:39.without the Human Rights Act. May I say to her that this Conservative
:17:40. > :17:46.Party in government has been responsible not just for reducing
:17:47. > :17:50.the length of pre-charged detention to 28 days, not just for abolishing
:17:51. > :17:54.identity cards, roads of which are responses to liberal measures passed
:17:55. > :18:01.by a Labour government, but has also been responsible for the present-day
:18:02. > :18:14.act which shows our commitment to human rights. Prolixity and lawyers
:18:15. > :18:17.are inseparable. Can my right honourable friend concerned that if
:18:18. > :18:20.the Human Rights Act was repealed and indeed even if we withdrew from
:18:21. > :18:24.the European convention on human rights, there is no provision
:18:25. > :18:29.whatsoever in the statute of the Council of Europe that would
:18:30. > :18:36.automatically mean that the United Kingdom would be forced to leave the
:18:37. > :18:40.Council of Europe? Well, we will be discussing with our fellow members
:18:41. > :18:46.of the Council of Europe how we gain better settlement in relation to the
:18:47. > :18:51.Strasberg caught's prudence, and in those discussions I expect that the
:18:52. > :18:58.other members will wish to see us remain within the organisation. Can
:18:59. > :19:03.the Attorney General we shall be House that the British Bill of
:19:04. > :19:07.rights will protect existing rights which are essential to a modern
:19:08. > :19:12.democratic society, but also protect against abuse of the system and
:19:13. > :19:19.misuse of human rights? I do think that is the objective here. There is
:19:20. > :19:24.a real danger to the support for human rights which we wish to see is
:19:25. > :19:31.widespread and full throated in this country. It appears that the concept
:19:32. > :19:35.is being abused to the sorts of cases that none of us truly believe
:19:36. > :19:39.our human rights cases, and that is something we must do something
:19:40. > :19:44.about. As part of developing these proposals, the question of whether
:19:45. > :19:47.the new Bill of rights has legal application to Scotland is crucial
:19:48. > :19:52.to the constitutional settlement. Can you give an indication as to
:19:53. > :20:03.whether it will apply and do you agree that a letter to slip consent
:20:04. > :20:07.motion will be required? -- a legislative consent. It is something
:20:08. > :20:10.we have discussed before and I am fully in favour, as I know my
:20:11. > :20:14.colleagues in the Ministry of Justice are, that the devolved
:20:15. > :20:18.administrations are engaged in the process. As to whether a consent
:20:19. > :20:23.motion is required, that depends on the nature of what is proposed, we
:20:24. > :20:30.have not seen the proposals, and it is important we consider them when
:20:31. > :20:33.we have. Mr Speaker, throughout the Spending Review process, I have been
:20:34. > :20:38.keen to ensure that while saving money where possible, the CPS
:20:39. > :20:43.receives sufficient funding to prosecute their caseload
:20:44. > :20:48.effectively. I believe what we have achieved does that and I welcome the
:20:49. > :20:51.?4.4 million that has been ring fenced for the CBS counterterrorism
:20:52. > :21:02.division which will double in size, and the extra funding for additional
:21:03. > :21:09.prosecutors for sexual offences. I was head of the CPS for five years
:21:10. > :21:15.until 2013. One of the reasons the CBS has coped well with the cuts is
:21:16. > :21:22.because the caseload has gone down. What level of assurance can be
:21:23. > :21:25.Attorney General is that if the caseload goes up significantly
:21:26. > :21:34.further funding will be made available? As he would expect, if
:21:35. > :21:38.circumstances change in that regard, we would of course speak to the
:21:39. > :21:43.Treasury again about many to be made available to deal with it but as I
:21:44. > :21:46.said, it important to recognise that the settlement we have takes account
:21:47. > :21:51.of the substantial changes in caseload which took place when he
:21:52. > :21:55.was Director of Public Prosecutions and subsequently, and they are
:21:56. > :22:02.significant shift in the nature of the caseload and this settlement
:22:03. > :22:04.recognises that. Would my right honourable friend make sure that
:22:05. > :22:08.priority is given to dealing with the woeful state of the CBS IT
:22:09. > :22:13.system which has been a long-running problem for many years? Will he
:22:14. > :22:20.ensure that all changes to CBS systems to ensure efficiency are
:22:21. > :22:27.aligned with the proposals made in the earlier report? Circulate. On
:22:28. > :22:32.the latter point, he will know that the CBS have been closely involved
:22:33. > :22:36.with the Levenson review and a large number of solutions have come from
:22:37. > :22:41.what he was told by the CBS. -- certainly. In the spending
:22:42. > :22:48.settlement announced yesterday there were ?700 million worth of money
:22:49. > :22:53.made available for the digitisation of the courts, and the CBS will
:22:54. > :22:59.benefit from and contribute to that process immensely. -- CPS. The
:23:00. > :23:03.director of prosecution asked the Attorney General for ?50 million to
:23:04. > :23:09.plug the funding gap so the CBS properly prosecute complex matters
:23:10. > :23:13.such as historic sex cases. -- CPS. The attorney confirmed that he was
:23:14. > :23:17.talking to the Treasury about this extra funding and that he thought
:23:18. > :23:23.they would understand the case he was making. There is no mention in
:23:24. > :23:31.the Autumn Statement of this extra special funding for historic sex
:23:32. > :23:36.cases. What went wrong? I think the honourable gentleman should pay
:23:37. > :23:41.close attention to what the CPS are saying now is much as what they were
:23:42. > :23:46.saying then, and let me tell you what the CPS said yesterday it was
:23:47. > :23:51.once to the settlement. They said this settlement will allow the CPS
:23:52. > :23:53.to respond to a change in caseload and a significant increase in
:23:54. > :24:01.complex and sensitive places such as terrorism, rape and serious sexual
:24:02. > :24:04.assault and child sex abuse. So the CPS are making the same point I am
:24:05. > :24:09.making today about this settlement. It is about recognising the need to
:24:10. > :24:17.deal with the increase in caseload that he is talking about. The CPS
:24:18. > :24:23.does not maintain a central record of the number of wasted cost orders
:24:24. > :24:29.but I can tell my honourable friend that the total value of costs
:24:30. > :24:34.awarded against the CPS in the vast financial year amounted to just over
:24:35. > :24:42.?1 million, which is about 0.18% of overall expenditure. A solicitor in
:24:43. > :24:46.my constituency said this to me. I am becoming more concerned about
:24:47. > :24:50.justice in the UK. The reason is the blatant failure of the CPS and the
:24:51. > :24:55.excuse that we are short of staff. I appreciate that savings needs to be
:24:56. > :25:01.made that come my honourable friend ensure that the CPS has a staff
:25:02. > :25:08.nationally and in Lincolnshire to perform its functions? I can assure
:25:09. > :25:16.him that the CPS has sufficient staff to do its work. CPS conviction
:25:17. > :25:28.rate in his region was 84.2% which is slightly higher than the national
:25:29. > :25:40.average. -- the. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Sorry, forgive me. I'm
:25:41. > :25:43.sorry, forgive me. New CPS legal guidance for prosecutors and
:25:44. > :25:48.anti-Semitic hate crime was published in May of this year and
:25:49. > :25:52.the CPS is implementing its anti-Semitic crime action plan which
:25:53. > :25:57.seeks to raise awareness of these cases and seeks to improve reporting
:25:58. > :26:00.of such hate crimes. This has been welcomed by the all-party group on
:26:01. > :26:05.anti-Semitism. You will be aware that the incidence of anti-Semitic
:26:06. > :26:09.hate crime is going up on a particularly in Muslim areas
:26:10. > :26:14.unfortunately. Can he expand further on the answer he gave earlier
:26:15. > :26:19.regarding the role of the CPS in educating the police on these
:26:20. > :26:22.matters? Can I pay tribute to my honourable friend for the consistent
:26:23. > :26:28.work he has done to highlight this obscene crime. It is sad to say that
:26:29. > :26:33.the Ross spikes in this type of offending when political events may
:26:34. > :26:36.occur. The CPS is aware of this and so are the place, and as part of the
:26:37. > :26:43.national training conference at Brighton some months ago, that type
:26:44. > :26:45.of hate crime was on the agenda. Questions to the Minister for women
:26:46. > :26:58.and equality. Thank you. The Prime Minister and I
:26:59. > :26:59.could not