Member

We must ensure that the consultation is meaningful, and it must include those who rely on private prosecutions. Crucially, the House will expect to see how the Government respond to the evidence they gather. If this becomes just a paper exercise and the Government continue with what they always intended to do, it will be wasted. We will watch closely what the Government do in that regard, but we recognise that there has been an attempt to compromise between the two noble aims of ensuring that private prosecutions can continue, while also ensuring that those costs are controlled and not an unnecessary burden on the taxpayer.