Ellie Reeves
MP for Lewisham West and East Dulwich · Labour · United Kingdom
“I commend the bravery and courage of my hon. Friend’s constituent in coming forward, and I am very sorry to hear about the additional trauma that they have faced waiting for justice to be served. As well as tackling the backlog to reduce delays, this Government are committed to supporting victims.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for that question, and for everything that she has done on this important issue. The Government’s landmark strategy to halve violence against women and girls starts with prevention, by focusing on the root causes and designing interventions to tackle outdated societal attitudes.”
“As I have set out at this Dispatch Box over recent months, Sir Brian Leveson said in his report that investment alone was not enough, and that reform was also necessary to bring down the backlog of 80,000 cases that we inherited from the previous Conservative Government. Inaction just was not an option.”
“I commend Voices in Bath and its important support for women. The CPS has introduced an enhanced service for victims of rape and serious sexual abuse. Victims now have a dedicated victim liaison officer, who they can contact throughout their case, and they are offered a pre-trial meeting with the prosecution.”
“I start by paying tribute to the tireless campaigning of Jade Blue. Jade was a victim of rape, but the CPS wrongly dropped her case just 13 days before trial. Ever since, she has campaigned for change. The early victims’ right to review gives rape victims the chance for their case to be reviewed before the CPS makes a final decision.”
“Jury trials will always remain in place for the most serious cases. My hon. Friend raises a point about the early victims’ right to review scheme, which will be rolled out nationwide on Monday. He is right that the west midlands led the way with the first pilot of the scheme.”
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“Since April 2020, the SFO has recovered over £550 million from criminals for the UK taxpayer, but this Government want to go further and are investing millions in expanding the SFO’s capabilities. Under our plan for change, we will crack down on fraud and ensure that crime does not pay.”
“On 9 September, the Serious Fraud Office secured £1.1 million from the sale of a Lake district house in an investigation involving its first use of an unexplained wealth order, connected to the assets of the wife of convicted fraudster Timothy Schools. This innovative use of the legislation showcases the SFO’s resolve to pursue criminal assets wherever they are hidden and explore new methods to recover funds for victims and the public purse.”
“I am grateful for that question. The Serious Fraud Office is constantly looking at ways to clamp down on fraud and economic crime. For example, the SFO is committed to working more closely with French and Swiss partners through the international anti-corruption prosecutorial taskforce, to ensure that we are robustly tackling cross-border economic crime, and to protect our future prosperity as part of our plan for change.”
“Rural crime can destroy our landscapes, jeopardise businesses and, over time, break down communities. This Government are committed to cracking down on crime and disorder in rural areas, through tougher powers on antisocial behaviour, farm theft, and fly-tipping. The Crown Prosecution Service has appointed a national rural crime lead, and last month it brought together prosecutors from across the country to ensure a co-ordinated approach to prosecution.”
“I am sorry to hear about the terrible experience of my hon. Friend’s constituent, and I recognise the significant impact that the theft of equipment has on farmers, both financially and on their wellbeing. The Government recently announced an £800,000 funding boost for the national rural crime unit and national wildlife crime unit. Those dedicated police units will increase collaboration across police forces, and harness the latest technology and data to target the serious organised crime groups that are involved in farm equipment theft.”
“I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising that important issue. I will certainly pick up the issue of police response with Home Office colleagues. The Government are committed to implementing the Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023, which aims to prevent the theft and resale of high-value equipment, particularly for use in an agricultural setting. The National Police Chiefs’ Council wildlife and rural crime strategy provides a framework through which policing and its partners can work together, to tackle the most prevalent threats and emerging issues that predominantly affect rural communities.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for raising that important point about county lines. The CPS has significantly increased its provision of early advice for county lines cases, working with law enforcement to ensure that all cases are as strong as possible. The CPS has prosecution guidance on county lines, which provides an overview of the approach to be taken in criminal investigations and prosecutions, as well as practical advice on decision making in gang-related offences and on building the strongest possible case. The Crime and Policing Bill will introduce two new offences that are relevant in this area: those of child criminal exploitation and cuckooing.”
“I set out some of the measures that this Government are taking to tackle rural crime, but I am happy to take up that issue with the Secretary of State for Scotland to see what more cross-border work can be done.”
“This Government place the experience of victims at the very heart of the justice system and are determined to restore their faith in the system. I want to acknowledge the sad passing of Baroness Newlove, who worked tirelessly for victims. Through its victim transformation programme, the CPS is reshaping its service to victims. I recently visited a rape and serious sexual offences—RASSO—unit in the west midlands and heard first hand about the work that victim liaison officers do to offer crucial support. I am pleased that the service is now being piloted to victims of domestic abuse as well.”
“I am very sorry to hear about the experience of the hon. Gentleman’s constituent, and I am sure our thoughts are with them. This Government inherited a justice system in crisis, with a record and rising Crown court caseload. Next year, we will fund the Crown courts to run at record levels to tackle the outstanding caseload, by funding 110,000 sitting days. The independent review of the criminal courts considered how to improve overall criminal court efficiency to provide swifter justice for victims, including victims of sexual offences. The CPS has introduced victim liaison officers in RASSO units to offer extra support to victims, particularly when they are facing delays to their trials.”
“This Government are committed to halving violence against women and girls, and that is my No. 1 priority as Solicitor General. The barriers that victims of rape and serious sexual violence face in this country are unacceptable, and the CPS is committed to improving its performance. These efforts are beginning to have an impact. Referral volumes for adult rape are on a sustained upward trend, and in the last quarter conviction volumes were at their highest level since 2016.”
“I answered an urgent question in this House a few weeks ago on the China case, which I expect the right hon. Gentleman is referring to. The Government have already made it clear that they are deeply disappointed in the outcome of that case. As has already been confirmed by the CPS and senior Treasury counsel, the decision to offer no evidence in the case was made by the CPS without political influence, including from me or any other Law Officer. As the Attorney General has outlined in some detail in evidence he gave in a recent Committee hearing, where a case can no longer proceed because of evidential reasons, as happened in this case, the requirement is that the CPS informs the Attorney General of the decision as soon as it is taken.”
“The issue of support for victims is particularly fresh in my mind, as I visited one of the CPS’s rape and serious sexual offences units in the west midlands just a few weeks ago. I heard at first hand about the important work that victim liaison officers in the CPS are doing to support victims through their experience of the criminal justice system—on which I have pressed the CPS. It is ensuring that its communications with victims are of the highest possible standard—that letters have empathy and are the best that they possibly can be. I will continue to monitor that closely.”
“I know the hon. Gentleman is a big champion on this issue. Victims of economic abuse face real challenges in getting justice, and he is right to draw attention to that issue. Legal aid is a matter for the Ministry of Justice, but I will commit to speaking with my ministerial colleagues on this issue and providing the hon. Gentleman with a full written response.”
“Tackling violence against women and girls is a top priority for this Government and for me. With the Crown Prosecution Service, I am utterly determined to drive improvements in performance across the breadth of VAWG offences. On domestic abuse, the CPS launched its joint justice plan with policing in November 2024. Over the last year, that has led to a 10% increase in charge volumes and a 7% increase in conviction volumes. Before the end of the year, the CPS plans externally to launch its own VAWG strategy, which aims to drive similar improvements across other VAWG offences.”
“I thank Restore for its excellent work—the organisation has been diligently supporting victims of domestic abuse for decades now. Under the joint justice plan, CPS areas and police forces have worked together to tailor their response to domestic abuse, addressing local priorities and community needs, including those in rural areas. In the new year, police and CPS will hold a joint knowledge-sharing event on domestic abuse in rural areas, to build improved understanding of the barriers these victims often face.”
“My hon. Friend’s question provides another example of the enormously important work that organisations such as NDAS do to support survivors of domestic abuse. I welcome Sharon to the Gallery today, and pay tribute to her and her colleagues. I would be delighted to meet her and my hon. Friend to discuss what more can be done to support victims in rural areas, particularly with our CPS colleagues.”
“For several years now, the CPS has maintained a high and steady charge rate of around 80%, and a conviction rate of 75%. This Government are taking radical action to ensure that more cases come into the system and progress through it. We have introduced Raneem’s law, which embeds domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms, and have launched domestic abuse protection orders, which go further than any other order to protect victims.”
“The right hon. Gentleman raises a really serious and important case; I am sure the thoughts of the House are with the victims. As he is aware, I cannot speak to cases in which there are live criminal investigations, but I am grateful to him for raising this extremely important issue, which I and other ministerial colleagues are following closely.”
“I thank the hon. Member for Woking (Mr Forster) for raising an extremely serious and tragic case. It is important that it has been raised in the House. I will certainly look at those recommendations closely and ensure that he gets a meeting with me or the relevant Minister.”
“I thank the hon. Member for raising the extremely important issue of child abuse. I will work with the Minister to respond to her in full on the points that she raises today.”
“I thank the hon. Member for raising the tragic case of Tony Hudgell. I know that his parents, along with the right hon. Member for Tonbridge (Tom Tugendhat), who is no longer in his place, have campaigned tirelessly for Tony and his family. I am very sorry to hear about Paula’s diagnosis, and I am sure that the thoughts of the House are with her and the family. I will take this matter away and do everything I can, along with Home Office and Justice Ministers, and we will respond in full to the points raised by the hon. Lady.”
“The DPP and senior Treasury counsel have already confirmed that the decision to offer no evidence in this case was made without any political influence, and the Cabinet Secretary, Director of Public Prosecutions, Attorney General and Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister will all give written and oral evidence to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy this and next week. The ongoing disinformation around the collapse of this case is now distracting from the most important issue that we should all be focused on, which is how the Government can work across parties and with the UK law enforcement community to ensure that Chinese espionage and interference is not successful in the UK.”
“In doing so, the Law Officer acts in a quasi-judicial capacity independently of Government and applies the same two- stage test as the code. Consent was given by my predecessor on 3 April 2024. Following that date, no Law Officer intervened in the case at any stage; it would have been wholly inappropriate for them to do so. Once consent is given, the Law Officer plays no ongoing role. If the prosecutor contemplates dropping the case because of evidential reasons, they are required to inform the Attorney General of the decision as soon as it has been taken. That is what happened in this case.”
“The details of what that means in practice are set out in the framework agreement between the Law Officers and the Director of Public Prosecutions, signed by the then Attorney General under the previous Government. The framework makes it plain that the role of the CPS is to take independent decisions on individual cases referred to it by the police and other criminal investigation authorities based on the evidence available and the public interest in pursuing a prosecution, which accords with the code for Crown prosecutors. There are a limited number of offences, including those under the Official Secrets Act, for which Parliament has made statutory provision requiring the Attorney General’s consent to prosecute in individual cases.”
“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising this urgent question, following the deeply disappointing collapse of the prosecution case concerning two individuals charged under the Official Secrets Act 1911. It is a bedrock constitutional principle that prosecutions in this country are free from political influence. This means that it is prosecutors, not politicians, who decide which cases to prosecute; it is prosecutors, not politicians, who decide what evidence will be used at criminal trials; and it is prosecutors, not politicians, who decide when cases should be dropped. Although individual decisions are made independently and protected from political influence, the Crown Prosecution Service as an organisation is superintended by the Attorney General by virtue of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985.”
“Their approach has served only to distract from their own failings, and frankly does a disservice to the history and heritage of their party. I respectfully remind the House that part of the reason we find ourselves in this situation is because the Conservatives spent their years in government fighting among themselves and not fixing glaring holes in our national security laws. The charges in this case were brought under the Official Secrets Act—”
“Today we have heard from the shadow Justice Secretary yet more of the baseless smears that have characterised the Conservative party’s approach to a matter of such importance to this House and the whole nation. He knows that the Attorney General will give evidence next week—as soon as Tuesday—to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy. Like me, the shadow Justice Secretary trained and practised in law, so he should know the importance of consistency when putting a case together. Yet his words today have brought only more confusion to the Conservatives’ chaotic approach. First, they accused the Government of political interference in this case without evidence. When that was disproven, they argued that we did not interfere but should have interfered in an independent prosecution—so which is it?”
“The charges in this case were brought under the Official Secrets Act 1911—outdated legislation, drawn up even before the dawn of world war one. As I said, the Attorney General, the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, the deputy National Security Adviser, the Cabinet Secretary and the Director of Public Prosecutions will all appear before the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy next week, and the Government have committed to fully engaging with Committees across both Houses as this issue is rightly scrutinised. Along with proper parliamentary scrutiny, another core tenet of our democracy is a prosecution service free of political interference. That is something that we on this side of the House will always defend.”
“I agree with my hon. Friend’s position. I remind the House that the test in this case applied to how China was viewed under the previous Government, not this one.”
“As I set out in my answer to the urgent question, the previous Law Officers gave consent to prosecute in April 2024. After that happens, it is right that there is no further involvement of Law Officers in cases. In accordance with the framework, that is how things work. It is right that politicians do not interfere with prosecutions in criminal cases, and that is what happened in this case once consent to prosecute was granted.”
“In terms of the witness statements, to start with the first and by far most substantive witness statement was the one made under the previous Government. In relation to more recent statements, the Conservatives’ starting argument was that the Government in some way interfered with the evidence, and now they seem to be criticising the fact that we did not interfere with the evidence. It is right that the deputy National Security Adviser gave that evidence free from any political interference, as has been confirmed numerous times in this House already.”
“The Attorney General will be giving his evidence to the Committee next week. I think it is right to say that the case was dropped by the CPS not on public interest grounds but on evidential grounds. When a case is dropped on evidential grounds, the framework sets out that the Law Officers be informed when that has happened, and not that there is consultation beforehand. This is a case that did not continue on evidential grounds.”
“This case was prosecuted under legislation that was in force when the alleged offences were committed in 2021 to 2023. The law has now changed—it took the Conservative party many years to tighten up national security legislation; it passed with support from Labour Members—and under the legislation as it stands now, it is easier to bring prosecutions of this nature because the enemy test no longer has to be satisfied.”
“As I have set out, consent to prosecute in this case had to be granted by Law Officers, and that was done under the previous Government. Once consent is granted, it is for the CPS to prosecute a case, rightly without political interference. This case was discontinued by the CPS on evidential grounds, as opposed to public interest grounds. I am sure that the hon. Member is aware of the two-part test for prosecutors. When a case is discontinued on evidential grounds, it is not for the CPS to consult with Law Officers in advance of that. I say again that the Attorney General will first give written evidence this week and then oral evidence on Tuesday.”
“I politely remind the right hon. Gentleman that this case was to be tried under the Government’s position in relation to China between 2021 and 2023, when his party was in Government.”
“The Prime Minister and the DPP have both confirmed that there was no political interference in the evidence given by the deputy National Security Adviser, and rightly so. The Conservative party cannot have it both ways: first, the argument was that we interfered with the evidence and now it seems to be that we did not. Which is it?”
“There was a meeting on 1 September in relation to this matter, which, as I understand it, took place on the basis that the prosecution would go ahead. It was to discuss bilateral relations with China in the context of the ongoing legal case.”
“In order for this case to succeed, it was based on the relationship with China at the time of the offences and how China was viewed then. I have already referred to the meeting on 1 September, which was on the presumption that the case would continue. The Attorney General will set out his evidence to the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy next week.”
“Under the law as it now stands, it would be easier to bring prosecutions in cases such as these. We are deeply disappointed that this prosecution did not go ahead, but I will get back to him on the specific points that he raises.”
“The Government are disappointed that this prosecution did not go ahead. If the previous Conservative Government had tightened our laws in relation to national security before 2022, we may not have found ourselves in this position. It is absolutely right that there was no political interference with the witness evidence. It is an important part of our constitution that criminal prosecutions are done without political interference.”
“I thank the hon. Member for those kind words. This case was brought under the Official Secrets Act. There is now new legislation in place, which means it is no longer necessary to prove the enemy part of the test in order to bring a successful prosecution. That will make it easier to bring prosecutions of this nature in future. It is regretful that the previous Government did not bring in this legislation sooner. Had they done so, I expect we would not have found ourselves in the situation we are in today.”
“Our plan for change is already delivering the change the country voted for a year ago. Great British Energy, headquartered in Aberdeen, is investing £1 billion in offshore wind supply chains, benefiting workers in our industrial heartlands. Britain had the highest growth in the G7 in the first quarter of this year, interest rates have been cut four times and wages are rising faster than prices. There is more to do, but after 14 years of decline under the Tories and almost two decades of SNP rule in Scotland, the country is turning a corner with this Labour Government.”
“My hon. Friend makes an important point. Under this Labour Government, NHS waiting lists are falling and we have an ambitious plan for the future of the NHS. Under the SNP, Scotland has an analogue Government in a digital age, and Scotland’s patients are missing out. Scotland needs a new direction, which I hope it will take with Anas Sarwar’s Scottish Labour party next year.”
“Since coming into government a year ago, we have taken measures to fix the mess left behind by the Conservatives. That is why, in the first quarter of this year, we were the fastest growing economy in the G7; interests rates have gone down four times, meaning people are paying less on their mortgages; and wages are rising faster than prices. That is the difference that a Labour Government make.”
“Our plan for growth is central to this mission-driven Government. Our investment in housing—building 1.5 million homes—will add £7 billion to the economy by the end of the Parliament. We are getting building, with spades in the ground on our rail and road projects, and getting on where the Tories failed this country for 14 years.”
“My hon. Friend is right to celebrate the recent figures showing that the UK was the fastest-growing economy in the G7 in the first quarter of this year—a sign that this Government’s focus on growth is beginning to bear fruit. We are determined to drive growth in every corner of the country. The lower Thames crossing, which my hon. Friend has long campaigned for and this Government have approved, will deliver big benefits in Dartford and beyond.”
“Visiting schools in my constituency is one of my favourite parts of being a Member of Parliament, and I encourage all MPs to do the same. We will legislate to lower the voting age to 16 for all UK elections—when parliamentary time allows, and following engagement and planning with relevant stakeholders—as a way to drive forward participation in democracy.”
“This Government were elected with an overwhelming mandate to deliver change. We inherited a country hit by an unprecedented cost of living crisis, with millions stuck on waiting lists and communities blighted by crime and antisocial behaviour. We are already delivering the change we promised. There will be a pay rise for 3 million workers, thanks to our increase in the national minimum wage. NHS waiting lists are down six months in a row, and there is funding for 13,000 neighbourhood police and community support officers. That was the change we promised, and that is the change we are delivering.”
“My hon. Friend is a great champion for the people of Dartford. Fixing Britain’s creaking infrastructure is vital for our growth mission and plan for change. We are reforming our planning rules to cut through blockages to delivering infrastructure and to help meet our target of 150 planning decisions by the end of this Parliament. The Government are committed to working with the private sector to deliver the lower Thames crossing. As well as creating jobs, it will reduce congestion and drive economic growth by improving connectivity between Kent and Essex.”