Robert Buckland Weblog

Mr. Brown has been to town, and the Swindon Advertiser asked the question that I wanted put to the Prime Minister about the car industry in Swindon.  It is clear that Honda continue to plan carefully how to manage the recession, by managing a reduction of jobs in stages rather than making sudden and unannounced redundancies.  The message that I take from the Nissan redundancies, however, is that no matter how productive a plant you have, if there is no demand for the product then the future looks pretty bleak.  I note that Honda are not looking for and will not accept a classic “bail out” from the Government or any other quarter.  This is very good sense on their part, because in reality there can be no return to the “British Leyland” scenario of the 1970s.   The drastic problems with credit and the financing of car sales are legitimate targets for help, however.

Much has been said locally and nationally about the use of school visits such as this by the Prime Minister as media opportunities.  The truth is that, wherever he goes, the media circus goes with him like it or not, giving the whole thing the feel of a travelling circus.  I gather that yesterday, a group of people dressed in Abba outfits with Gordon Brown masks were singing “SOS – Save our Savings” outside Isambard School.   In a week when interest rates went down to an unprecendented 1.5%, its a vital point to make on behalf of the millions who, unlike the Government, were prudent.

Justin and I were delighted to host Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve at a dinner in Highworth on Friday night.  As he always does, Dominic spoke with clarity and passion about what has gone so wrong with our criminal justice  and police system.  I was able to discuss the growing problems caused by the increasing delays before suspects are charged with criminal offences.  Up until only a few years ago, the decision to charge was taken by a police officer at the Station after the suspect had been detained and interviewed.  Once charged, the court process took over and minds were concentrated; additional evidence was obtained swiftly and any failure could be addressed by the Court.  There were plenty of occasions where charges had to be amended or dropped, but the fact remained that the system was working as quickly as it could.

In Court last week, I was listening to a Plea hearing in a case involving a very sensitive allegation that had been made at the beginning of 2008 but which had not resulted in a charge until September!  Six months were lost because computer evidence was being analysed by the High Tech Unit, which is snowed under with work.  It then took a further six weeks for a decision to be made by the CPS (who take these decisions nowadays) to charge.  It seemed to me that there was no good reason why charge couldn’t have taken place early in the year, which would have put proper pressure on the CPS to obtain the computer evidence very quickly if it wanted to rely upon it.  There are some who say that the pressures of the Court system should not work against the need to obtain all necessary evidence.  I say that the interests of complainants and defendants are most important; they are best served by a system that acts quickly and ensures that any trial takes place as speedily as possible after the incident complained of.

Saturday was spent, as usual, campaigning hard in Swindon; I was working my way through West Swindon in particular, and found an excellent response to the 2009 Conservative Calendars that we have been distributing over the past few weeks.  I am very lucky to have a dedicated and experienced team of campaigners around me; my thanks to them.

Today has been the day of the Cat.   Sian and the children visited a cattery run by Cats Protection (formerly known as the Cat Protection League)  earlier this week and selected four year old Megan, a Tabby with a very gentle disposition.  Having seen Millicent enjoy the company of Tibs the farm cat in Cornwall, having a cat seemed the best way forward.   Our grateful thanks to Cats Protection for their invaluable work in housing hundreds of cats and enabling them to be re-housed with people who will properly look after them.  I have never had a pet; seeing Mill respond so well to cats has changed my attitude!

For a link to see the work of the CPL, go to www.cats.org.uk