Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill

I agree with what the hon. Member for Beaconsfield (Mr. Grieve) has just said. It is difficult to envisage fines much higher than the £4 million levied in relation to the Ladbroke Grove train crash, although that should be contrasted with the £5 million that West Ham had to pay over unregistered players. That shows that victims’ families will still face a degree of injustice when they seek reparation for an incident. That is important, because the media operations surrounding such convictions have become increasingly professional in their attempt to downplay or minimise what happened. If a court order can be used to get around a company’s PR machine, that is very welcome. However, I shall go further than the hon. Member for Beaconsfield, as I hope that the judges who issue the orders will be a little more imaginative too. They should do more than require newspaper advertisements to be taken out. In big incidents that receive worldwide television publicity, they should ensure that the ensuing apology and conviction are also the subject of a TV advertisement. Regardless of the adverse publicity that would be incurred, that could be quite expensive for the organisation that has to pay the bill. I therefore hope that my hon. Friend the Minister will confirm that publicity orders cover a much wider range of media than merely newspapers.