Fraud (Trials without a Jury) Bill

The hon. Gentleman says that there is no possibility of stopping the creep once the wedge is in the door. When he read the paragraph from my letter, he ended by suggesting that I had said that we wished to give this right only to the prosecution. In fact, what I said in relation to not allowing creep was something different. I said that we had indicated to the House that we had"““no intention of going further than the provisions that are already in the 2003 Act regarding serious and complex fraud trials, and we are concerned that to add a waiver provision—even at the suggestion of the Opposition—could increase the number of non-jury trials and might leave us open to accusations of acting in bad faith.””" In other words, we decided that we were not going to broaden the wedge. We were, in an act of political will, taking a decision not to do so. It is possible not to do it, by political will.