Fraud (Trials without a Jury) Bill

We entirely support the amendment on two grounds: one pragmatic, and one principled. The pragmatic reason is that I will do absolutely anything that might frustrate the Government’s intentions. This is yet another opportunity to do so. The reason for the pragmatic approach of wishing to frustrate the Government by any means possible is the principle of the retention of jury trial. That principle is not only right but is accepted widely in the country at large. Another principled reason for supporting the amendment relates to precisely what the right hon. and learned Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Mr. Hogg) said: there would be no Criminal Justice Act 2003 were it not for the existence of section 330(5)(b), on commencement. It was solely on the basis of that agreement, reached in the room just behind the Speaker’s Chair, by me and my hon. Friend the Member for North Southwark and Bermondsey (Simon Hughes), the hon. Member for Beaconsfield (Mr. Grieve) and his colleagues, and the then Home Secretary, that there was any possibility of the Criminal Justice Bill, as it then was, reaching the statute book. To rip up, in effect, that agreement in order to facilitate the passage of this appalling little Bill seems not only wrong in principle but an abnegation of that agreement. That is why the section should be retained. We should retain the opportunity to vote against this squalid process on every possible future occasion.