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Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 27 Nov 2025
Right to Trial by Jury

"I feel so strongly about it...."
Edward Leigh - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 27 Nov 2025
Right to Trial by Jury

"I served as a young barrister in criminal courts, and I have served on a jury, and I can say that I was deeply impressed by the care that people on the jury, from all walks of life, took to consider the evidence—actually, they were better than the barristers in …..."
Edward Leigh - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 20 Nov 2025
Separation Centres: Terrorist Offenders

"When it comes to terrorists, what is worrying a lot of us is the fact that people are pouring across the channel illegally and there is absolutely no check whatsoever on them. The Minister may not be able to answer this now, but I am interested in the state of …..."
Edward Leigh - View Speech

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Written Question

Question Link

Tuesday 14th May 2024

Asked by: Edward Leigh (Conservative - Gainsborough)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to support the victims of crime.

Answered by Laura Farris

The Government is committed to supporting victims of crime.

The Victims and Prisoners Bill, which is currently in Report stage of the second House, introduces measures to better serve victims and the public, through improving victims’ experiences of the Criminal Justice System. The Bill places the overarching principles of the Victims’ Code into primary legislation and places a statutory duty on relevant agencies to provide services in accordance with the Victims’ Code, unless there is a good reason not to. The Bill sets up new oversight mechanisms to monitor and improve Code compliance through new mandatory data collection. There will be a series of consequences in place for bodies that do not comply with the Code, delivered by new local and national oversight mechanisms, with robust independent scrutiny by the Victims’ Commissioner.

The Government recognises the importance of services which support victims, and so the Bill also introduces a duty on Police and Crime Commissioners Local Authorities and Integrated Care Boards to collaborate when commissioning support services for victims of domestic abuse, sexual abuse, and serious violence in England. Alongside this, the government has quadrupled funding for victims’ support services in cash terms since 2009/10. This includes funding to increase the number of Independent Sexual Violence Advisers and Independent Domestic Violence Advisers to around 1,000 by 2024/25, a 24/7 Rape Support Helpline, and an improved Homicide Support Service.

In addition to supporting victims directly, the Government is committed to making sure the punishment fits the crime. The average custodial sentence has increased by around 50% since 2010 and serious offenders now spend a higher proportion of their sentence in custody.

Speech in Westminster Hall - Mon 28 Nov 2022
Legal Rights to Access Abortion

"It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Graham. I apologise that I cannot stay until the end of this debate, but I have to chair a meeting upstairs.

MPs who want even wider laws on abortion recently hijacked the Government’s Public Order Bill in an attempt to …..."
Edward Leigh - View Speech

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Speech in Westminster Hall - Mon 28 Nov 2022
Legal Rights to Access Abortion

"The hon. Lady mentions a worry about what is happening in the rest of the world. We have heard a lot about the United States of America, but we are in an entirely different situation here: if anybody wants to change the effective right to abortion, they have to come …..."
Edward Leigh - View Speech

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Speech in Westminster Hall - Mon 28 Nov 2022
Legal Rights to Access Abortion

"I agree with the hon. Lady. It is a very dangerous parliamentary and legal practice for anyone to try to achieve their aims by piggybacking them on a Bill that is designed to deal with a completely different eventuality.

As we know, the law as it stands effectively allows abortion …..."
Edward Leigh - View Speech

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Speech in Westminster Hall - Mon 28 Nov 2022
Legal Rights to Access Abortion

"That is an interesting point, but is the freedom to have an abortion at 24 weeks rather than 22 weeks the kind of fundamental right that we believe should be protected in a Bill of Rights? This is a matter for argument. A Bill of Rights is an unbelievably blunt …..."
Edward Leigh - View Speech

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Speech in Westminster Hall - Mon 28 Nov 2022
Legal Rights to Access Abortion

"Will the hon. Lady give way?..."
Edward Leigh - View Speech

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Speech in Westminster Hall - Mon 28 Nov 2022
Legal Rights to Access Abortion

"I would quite like to ask my own question, if the hon. Lady will forgive me. If the right to abortion is so restrictive in this country, why do we have one of the highest abortion rates in the world?..."
Edward Leigh - View Speech

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