Sir Julian Lewis

Sir Julian Lewis

Conservative — New Forest East

Speaking in the House of Commons on 23 June 2026

Debate

Defence Spending and Readiness

Contribution

Another spurious argument, which I am afraid we heard earlier in the debate, is that the legislation put our armed forces on the same level as terrorists. The truth is that everybody is on the same level before the law. In any case, the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998 sold the pass on that anyway, because under it nobody—even if they were convicted of first-degree murder, as the Americans might say—goes to jail for more than two years. That put everybody on the same level before the law, as any such legislation has to do.

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