Member

The noble Baroness, Lady Fox, hit on this following something I mentioned earlier. While we were sat here, I had a quick look at the national crime recording advice. In November 2025, this Government published advice on crime recording for front-line officers. Cops, like I was, might read it at 3 am—it is 92 pages long. It is a symptom of a deeper malaise, I am afraid, and it is infected by the fact that both cases—recording non-crime hate incidents and crime—rely not on the objective test of whether there was a crime, which is very clear in statute and occasionally common law, but on the subjective test of whether somebody thinks that there was a crime. Unless that is addressed, we will have carryover in the non-crime incidence and the crime incidence. I understand the good faith of the Minister and am not doubting that in any way, but I am afraid that the system is already set against him.