Member

There are many problems with recall, but the second and biggest of the injustices—if the one I have described is not in itself enough—is what happens if someone is accused of a crime. Normally in this country, if you are accused of a crime and are to be held pending trial, the judge or the magistrate decides whether you should be locked up. If you contest your guilt or you do not admit it, you are subject to a trial. In this case, we should accept that people should not be returned simply because the probation service and the civil servants concerned, acting on behalf of the Government, say that the person should not be given a trial and bail should not be judicially determined. That is the injustice, but it is also futile, and I can make this point briefly. Look at the number of recalls of people who are let out—again, this is an exercise in futility.