Member

On Lords amendment 1, I must begin by thanking the shadow Justice Minister, the hon. Member for Bexhill and Battle (Dr Mullan), and the parents of Lenny Scott, an ex-prison officer murdered by a former inmate in a horrendous revenge attack. The amendment answers their call for a small but important reform to sentencing around whole life orders. We recognise the unique and dangerous job that police, prison and probation officers do. They perform a distinctive role that involves routine contact with dangerous offenders. We want to ensure that the exceptional seriousness of murders motivated by those officers’ important work is expressly recognised in the sentencing framework for murder; such crimes strike at the heart of the rule of law.