Member

I was particularly interested in what the noble Lord, Lord Balfe, had to say about the fact that, at the age of 13, he was able to say what he thought. The one thing that is wrong with Amendment 3 is that it talks about 16 and 17 year-olds. As a family judge, I used to get children coming into my room, both in private-law cases and care cases. I had children sometimes as young as seven and eight who gave me extraordinary, careful and sensible views on what should happen to them. They did not always get it. I am sure the Children’s Commissioner had exactly the same experience.