Any questions for Nick Herbert?

Nick has been the MP for Arundel & South Downs since May 2005. In December 2005 David Cameron appointed Nick as the Shadow Minister for Police Reform, and in July 2007 he was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Justice responsible for policy on prisons, constitutional issues, criminal law, courts and sentencing.

Prior to his election Nick was the Director of Reform, the independent think tank which he co-founded in 2002.  Reform aims to “set out a better way to deliver public services and economic prosperity” and has been described by commentators as “the most important think tank to emerge for a decade”.

Before that, from 1998 to 2000, Nick was Chief Executive of Business for Sterling, where he launched the successful ‘no’ campaign against the euro.  He continues to believe that too much power has been transferred to the European Union and that the process not only needs to be halted but also now put in reverse so that powers are returned to national parliaments where they belong.

If you have any questions for Nick please leave them in the thread below.

Comments

[601]

What do you think of giving judges "investigative" powers?

601

[simon]

Why do our police force resemble that of Springfield's police force under the 'dynamic' leadership of Chief Wiggum? For example: my car was written off by a gormless driver- no fault of my own. Whilst having PC Plod at the scene, I had him come up to me and say 'the treads on your tyres are a little thin'!!! He was not joking. I'm surprised i kept me gob shut on THAT one. Could we have DCI Gene Hunt made Home Secretary please? Less 'softly, softly'- thank you.

[Old Hack]

This may not be your brief entirely, but I'd value your view.

There is a great deal of frustration, grief and anger at the way the family law system works.

Whilst we should do all we can to protect children and other vulnerable people we should also consider that it is always in the childs best interest to remain with parents rather than be fostered or taken into care.

This often happens based simply on the opinion of an expert who gives evidence to a court in a closed session and with judgment given on the balance of probability rather than firm evidence. So we have the calamities regularly reported on with convictions being quashed, the likes of Sir Roy Meadows being vilified and so on.

Family law in my view is in dire need of reform. What do you think and how should we do it?

[Matt Davis]

I totally agree with your view that we need to repatriate powers from Brussels back to our national Parliament. But how exactly do we do that?

[ThatcherBoy]

Judges hands are tied by the liberal strictures of the Sentencing Guidelines Council. Would you favour "trusting professionals" and scrapping all sentencing guidelines?

If so, would you investigate ways of making judges more accountable - like through election as in some US states? This is the same principle as elected police chiefs and would lead to more just sentences for violent offenders, restoring trust in the whole system.

[Paul Oakley]

Will the party ensure that those who are arrested for, but not subsequently convicted of, an offence will have their DNA records destroyed?

[David Belchamber]

I would first like to second Matt Davis' question at 11.56 and then ask whether the tories are sufficiently prepared for government to be able to slash - within 100 days of gaining office = sufficient redtape and targets for the police to get back to real policing and be seen as a presence on the streets again.
PS I sympathise with Simon at 11.08: we noticed water flooding out of our neighbour's garage the other day (they being abroad and not answering their mobiles), so I phoned the police for advice. They couldn't give any but they could find time to ask about my ethnicity!!

[TaxCutter]

You established a thinktank in Reform which has produced some excellent work. Which thinktanks in the UK and abroad do you most respect, and what do you think the successes of UK rightwing thinktanks have been in recent years?

[tired and emotional]

1. If elected, what is the timetable for bringing in elected sheriffs?

2. Will you remove the police and security services from the Race Relations Amendment of 2000 that requires them to

-Eliminate unlawful discrimination;
-Promote equality of opportunity; and
-Promote good relations between persons of different racial groups

None of the above are the job of the police.

3. Will you delete data and databases containing the details of people who have not been convicted of a crime?

[David Cooper]

What steps will you take to halt and reverse the proliferation of the "spot fine" culture that has occurred over the last ten years, given that this flies in the face of the constitutional doctrine of the separation of powers between legislature, executive and judiciary? It may be administratively convenient not to have court lists cluttered with minor offences fit only for summary disposal, but the balance has arguably swung too far in favour of petty officialdom e.g. bin police, speed camera partnerships, in search of soft and lucrative targets.

[The Huntsman]

1. Have you visited The Policeman's Blog @ http://coppersblog.blogspot.com/? If so, do you share my horror at the obvious bureaucratic nightmare that passes for policing which it discloses? If you have not seen it, can I suggest you spend some time on it?
2. Here in Kettering we have quite a number of Community Support Officers. Without in the least wishing to denigrate their work (and they are a welcome and cheerful addition to already highly overstretched constabulary:indeed any help would be), they dress in exactly the same uniform as the Regular Police and thus, when out and about give the impression that the town is full or real police officers: do you agree with me that this is, in effect, a Labour Confidence Trick?

3. Concerning the repatriation of powers from Brussels, can you explain what the Plan 'B' is for when, as I believe will happen inevitably, Brussels says 'no' to any such thing? Will you simply throw up your hands and say "What a shame!" or will you then take matters further down the route of disengagement? Or is there some other cunning plan?

[Tony Makara]

Nick, how can we best take the bureaucracy out of police work and get our coppers out onto the streets where they can be a 'presence' once again?

[John Leonard]

Nick,

A slightly irreverent question here.

Several years ago I worked for the Home Office for a number of years and during that time I was told by numerous sources that the Home Office considered itself a small Policy Unit. It disliked extremely the fact that it had two large departments (Prisons & Immigration) attached to it.

Now the Prison Service has been hived off to the Justice Department and assuming that Immigration will now be merged with the operational arm of Customs and Excise it would seem that the Home Office have got their way.

So my question to you is, considering the chaos that the Home Office has been in over the last few years, do you think this is a case of the dog wagging its tail or the tail wagging the dog?

[Richard]

Are you going to continue Oliver Heald's strong defence of legal aid so, for example, it is possible for women subject to domestic violence to get the protection they need?

[Martin Koder]

What is your view of the compensation culture debate? The Law Society says that much of it is hysteria whipped up by the insurance industry and that the number of claims have not risen substantially. Meanwhile, the insurers are looking for more and more ways to cut the lawyers out of it on the grounds that they raise costs which are ultimately passed on to the consumer via higher premiums. So for example with personal injury cases, the insurers are looking to shift more cases into the small claims court (where claimants represent themselves) but the lawyers say that lower payouts will result and there is an access to justice issue for less informed victims. Who to trust - the lawyers or the insurers?

[Mark]

Do you support any of the following...

1. Tough minimum sentences for serious offences

2. Zero tolerance policing

3. Elected sheriffs/chief constables

...and if not, why not ?

[John Leonard]

Will you reverse the current policy (since May?) where individual cases of internet fraud are not to be reported to the police but to the relevant financial institution who then decide whether they will report the crime or not?

[CCHQ Spy]

Please name five things that the Conservative Party will do to make Britons safer from terrorism.

[informed outsider]

why did you break from your preivous admirable libertian stance on such issues to support the incredibly illbieral social orientation bill of the goverment- that ends freedom of assocaiton even in privatie clubs, closes down gay nights, end serious religiou adoption agencies ect

see this

http://frum.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NGY0ZmRkNmU1YTY2YWM5NTdmZjRjM2U0MzRhOTg5MGI=

[Mark]

It is not politically attractive to give money to lawyers. But do you accept that cutting public funds for lawyers will either drive them out of business or force them to give up publicly funded work, leaving the public without any recourse to the justice system? How will you work with lawyers (especially criminal and family) lawyers to ensure they are able to continue providing this essential public service?

[Associate Editor]

Thank you for your questions for Nick. They have been sent to him and his answers will be posted shortly.