HOUSE OF COMMONS NOTEBOOK

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3 years ago

By Bill Heaney

Say what you like about Labour’s Angela Rayner, and I am sure many of you do just that.

But you have to admit that she is what her fellow MPs in the House of Commons call “box office”.

Ms Rayner was called to the Dispatch Box on Wednesday to take on her Conservative opposite number, the depute Conservative leader, Dominic Raab.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was away at the funeral of former Speaker Betty Boothroyd, of happy memory.

“Our thoughts are with her family today. I am sure the whole House will join me also in paying tribute to Betty Boothroyd and Paul O’Grady, whose sad death was announced today. He was a national treasure and a true northern star, and he will be greatly missed.”

The moment PMQs began, Angela was straight in there with the stiletto – “This week, the Government announced their so-called antisocial behaviour policy. It has only taken 13 years. Look, I will give him some credit: the Deputy Prime Minister knows first-hand the misery caused by thugs and their intimidating behaviour, lurking with menace, exploding in fits of rage, creating a culture of fear, and maybe even—I do not know—throwing things. So I ask him: under his new antisocial behaviour policy, does he think more bullies will be brought to justice?”

Dominic Raab parried the question: “If the right hon. Lady was serious about standing up for communities and people who suffer from the scourge of antisocial behaviour, she would back our plan to deal more swiftly with these issues, make sure we ban drugs beyond the conventional ones and give police the powers they need.

“If Labour really wants to protect the public, it will back our plans for parole reform to make sure that murderers, terrorists and child killers are not allowed out free to threaten other people, and reintroduce the ministerial veto that Labour took away.”

The gloves were off from the start and Angela Rayner threw a low blow immediately: “I would like to see the ministerial code introduced and adhered to on the Government Benches, because it is not just [Dominic Raab’s] department where antisocial behaviour is running out of control.

“It is happening across the country: police officers disappearing from our streets, replaced by criminals plaguing our towns and leaving people feeling unsafe. The truth is that the Conservatives are missing in action in the fight against crime.

“Can he tell his constituents and the public why, after 13 years of his party in government, there are now 6,000 fewer neighbourhood police officers on Britain’s streets?”

The Deputy Prime Minister accused Ms Rayner of “having a brass neck” because Labour voted against the funding of police recruitment and the 20,000 extra police officers.

He added: “What I will tell her and the whole House is that crime is lower than it was under the last Labour Government, violent crime has halved and re-offending is seven percentage points lower. If she really wants to stand up for the public and the victims of crime, Labour should back our Bill to protect victims and protect the most vulnerable from serious killers, rapists and terrorists.”

This was meat and drink to Angela Rayner. She rapped back: “No one believes that there are more police on the streets and no one feels safer. Neighbourhood policing has gone down, not up. Let us talk about crime.

“You know as well as I do that neighbourhood police can help to prevent antisocial behaviour and knife crime, but trusted local police are also crucial to protecting women. Women feel unsafe on Britain’s streets, always looking over our shoulder as we hurry to our front door. Can he tell me, under his watch as Justice Secretary, what is the charge rate for rape?”

Mr Raab replied: “I will address all those elements and first of all say that the issue of rape and serious sexual violence against women is one of our top priorities. She asks what we are doing about it. Since 2019, police referrals of cases have doubled and Crime Prosecution Service charges have doubled. She asks what has happened on my watch.

“The volume of convictions in rape cases has increased by two thirds. If she really wants to protect vulnerable women, whether from rapists or other serious crimes, she will back our parole reforms, which will mean Ministers are able to prevent people from being released into the public and causing more threats.”

Angela Rayner hit back: “You say that rape conviction has gone up. What this really means is that 300 women will be raped today while he boasts about an increase of 0.5%.

“He has not answered my question, because he is too ashamed of the answer: 1.6% of rapists face being charged for their crime—1.6%. Let that sink in.

“A woman goes through the worst experience of her life. She summons up the courage to relive that horrendous experience to tell the police in detail about her assault, but she only has a 1.6% chance of action being taken.

“Over 98% of rapists will never see the inside of a courtroom, let alone a prison. And the rest of those brave women? They keep looking over their shoulders and hope the perpetrator does not choose tonight to take their revenge for reporting the incident to the police.

“In the last 13 years of the Tory Government, more than half a million cases of rape have been recorded by the police, but the charge rate for those attacks has collapsed. He has served under five Tory Prime Ministers and had three years as Justice Minister, and on his watch rapists are left to roam the streets. Will he apologise to those victims who will never get justice because of his failures?”

The Deputy Prime Minister answered: “First of all, the conviction rate measured by the Crown Prosecution Service—the leader of the Labour party used to be in charge of the CPS, so he might want to point this out—has gone up. It is now at 69%.

“We are doing much more to support victims of rape when they come forward. They are talking a good game but, in fact, we have quadrupled funding for victims since 2010. If Ms Rayner looks at the latest data, she will see that the time it has taken from charge to completion of a rape case has come down by 10 weeks, or 70%, in the last three months alone. She should get her facts straight, particularly when talking about such a sensitive issue.”

But Angela Rayner was far from fazed: “Mr Raab will not apologise for the Government’s failure on charge rates. Sixty-nine per cent of 1.6%—is that really something to boast about? Let me ask him about an issue that is directly his responsibility. On his watch, rape survivors are waiting on average more than three years for their cases to come to court.

“He talked about a 10-week reduction. From three years, 10 weeks is not anything to boast about—three years from the day of the assault to the final day of court. Is it any wonder that from April to September last year, 175 trials for rape and other serious sexual offences had to be dropped because the victim could no longer cope with the delay? When will he apologise to all those women denied justice because of his failure to sort the court backlog?”

The Deputy Prime Minister accused Ms Rayner of ignoring the the impact on the court backlog of the pandemic or, indeed, the Criminal Bar Association strike.

He said: “Let me tell her what we are doing. We have quadrupled funding for victims since 2010—quadrupled the funding provided by the last Labour Government. We launched the 24/7 support line, so that when those victims of that appalling crime come forward, they get the support they need.

“We have increased the number of independent sexual violence advisers to more than 1,000, and we are making sure that women who suffer this appalling crime can give pre-recorded evidence in court. We are doing everything that we can.

“As I said, the rates are coming down and we will keep taking action. If the Labour party were really serious about this, they would not have voted against longer sentences for dangerous, violent and sexual offenders in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, and she would get behind our Victims and Prisoners Bill today.”

Ms Rayner looked furious: “Not a word of apology, no sense of responsibility and not even a shred of shame. The reality is that while people in Britain feel more and more unsafe, Mr Raab seems to spend all his time trying to save his own job and none of his time on his actual job. It is not just me who thinks so—the Prime Minister clearly does not trust him to deal with antisocial behaviour, because he has given that job to the Levelling-up Secretary.

“The way that things are going, and if reports are to be believed, this might be his last Prime Minister’s questions, so let us look at the highlights: criminal justice on its knees; the largest court backlog on record; rape victims waiting for justice; and through it all, he managed to rack up 24 formal complaints from his own civil servants. Can he say today: will he walk before he is pushed?”

Dominic Raab didn’t look comfortable.

He said: “One thing never changes: Angela Rayner always comes with her usual bluster and political opportunism. Let me tell her what I have been doing this week. We have delivered new legislation to support the victims of crime, including rape, and to protect the public. We have delivered a plan to stamp out antisocial behaviour and we have supported families with their energy bills. What has she done? What have Labour Front Benchers done? They tried to block our small boats Bill. That is the difference between them and us. We deliver for Britain; she likes to play her political games.”

A Reclaim the Night demo by women in Vale of Leven. Top of page picture: Angela Rayner – “rape survivors are waiting on average more than three years for their cases to come to court”.

By Bill Heaney

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