Member

I turn, therefore, to what we should do. The first issue is resentencing. In giving evidence to a Select Committee at the end of 2021, chaired by Sir Bob Neill, I gave strong evidence in favour of resentencing. That was three and a half years ago, and a number of things have happened since then. First, the committee reported. When the Government were asked to comment on it, they said that they were not going to do so. When the present Government, then in opposition, were asked about this, they took very much the same position, and have maintained that position. I therefore have reservations about resentencing. If it has got nowhere after three and a half years and the courts are now dealing with a horrific backlog, is it going to be possible to persuade the Government? We have to look at alternatives. Then there is the option of resentencing those referred to in Amendment 3 who are 10 years over tariff, those referred to in Amendment 10 who were subject to this sentence when they were under-18, and those who were sentenced prior to the changes in 2008. I can see how a strong case can be made for each of those, but the difficulty is what all the other people who are subject to IPPs would feel about it. They are subject to an injustice—possibly not as great an injustice as those.