Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill

No, it is not illogical. As I have readily conceded, the article 2 problem remains for the Government. In relation to trying to deal with such issues promptly, that is the outstanding lever on the Government. There is no point in starting prosecutions immediately, as that would take time and would not in itself lever in change. The purpose of the Bill is to act as a preventive measure, not to start bringing prosecutions. If our purpose is to try to prevent deaths in custody, the Government have come up with a clear package intended to achieve that objective. In the last recorded year, for example, we saw a reduction in suicides of about 14 per cent.—60-odd people still died, which is far too many, and there were other deaths too. We need to give the Government the opportunity to bring the measures into effect rapidly and then, we hope, we will start to see a significant reduction. As was conceded on Report and today, the number of cases to which the Bill would apply is relatively small. On average, I think, a prisoner currently dies in violent circumstances virtually every other day, although that number is coming down. The hon. Member for Beaconsfield said that over the past few years there had been about 10 instances in which there might have been a prima facie case, and I think that number is probably about right. However, we are trying to deal with the problems involved in not just those 10 prima facie cases but the 200 or so other cases that would not be caught by the Bill. If what the Government are presenting today is a package of measures that would deal not only with the gross negligence cases but, more important, with all deaths in custody, I think we are seeing some real progress.