Column 29 April - Progress in Parliament

This week my first session of Parliament ends, and Parliament goes into prorogation, ahead of the Queen’s Speech, which will set out the Government’s legislative programme for the next session of Parliament.

We have accomplished a great deal in this session, most notably getting Brexit done, but we have also accomplished a great deal more for our country, all in the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, which makes our continued progress all the more significant. Bills introduced to Parliament during the previous session include the Immigration Bill, the Trade Bill, the Fishing and Agricultural Bills, all crucial as move away from the EU as an independent sovereign nation.

One other area I am proud we are making a difference in is around the work the Government is doing to give our police more powers and the justice system more teeth. I am pleased that this Government has introduced new legislation to Parliament which will deliver on our manifesto commitment to do just that - to give the police and courts greater powers to do their jobs, while ensuring the most violent criminals spend longer behind bars.

We need a fair justice system-one that stands for the law-abiding majority, not the criminal minority. In the previous election, I pledged to crackdown on crime and build safer communities – and our Police, Crime Courts and Sentencing Bill delivers on that commitment, ensuring punishments fit the severity of the crime. The new protections and powers for police, while reforming sentencing, include whole life orders for child killers, with judges also allowed to impose this punishment on 18-20 year olds in exceptional cases, new powers to halt the automatic early release of offenders who pose a danger to the public and ends the halfway release of offenders sentenced for serious, violent and sexual offences.  It also introduces life sentences for killer drivers, gives police new stop and search powers against convicted knife and offensive weapons offenders, enshrines the Police Covenant in law and doubles the maximum sentence for assaulting an emergency services worker from 12 months to 2 years. This Bill builds on our progress to deliver 20,000 more police officers, and delivers on this Conservative Government’s pledge to restore confidence in the criminal justice system, giving our full support to the police and courts to cut crime and to make our streets safer.

As well as these national changes to help our police and courts, I am working locally with our Police and Crime Commissioner to free up funds currently held in the camera safety partnership. This is money that has been collected from speeding fines, and I know there are many communities in Truro and Falmouth that have ideas about road safety measures in their towns and villages. If we are successful in freeing up this money, it is hoped to be able to work up projects which can be delivered locally. I look forward to updating you about this again soon.

As ever, if you need my assistance with anything then my team and I are here to help. Please get in touch with me by email at Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk , or by telephone on 01872 229698.