Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with the Attorney General on the implications of the acquittal of four people charged with criminal damage to a statue of Edward Colston in Bristol for the criminal justice system.

In any case where there is an acquittal in the Crown Court, the Attorney General has the power to ask the Court of Appeal for its opinion on a point of law which arose in the case.

The Attorney General is carefully considering whether to make such a referral.