Inside the Lords: Valdo Calocane, assisted dying and a crisis of trust

Claire Fox reports from a week inside the Lords, and why public scrutiny is being thwarted by corrupted processes.

Inside The Lords this week began with a shocking inquiry report about Valdo Calocane and the brutal murder of Ian Coates, Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar. It indicated a real problem with the way in which mentally ill people are helped - or not helped - and the tragic consequences that can come from that inadequacy. It relates to a debate we’re having about the Mental Health Bill, which is allegedly about making sure the system improves. But what I’ve learnt inside the Lords is that you can pass all the legislation you like, and it changes very little.

For example, the Bill states that prisons shouldn’t be places to dump the mentally ill, and that there will be a 28-day limit to move people with psychosis into a secure hospital. And while I agree with both those measures, the point is that no one believes they will actually be implemented, given the current state of prisons.

You can have a row about whether or not Calocane should be in a hospital facility or a prison and I understand the different sides there - I mentioned Ken McLaughlin’s brilliant Letter on Liberty for dealing with the nuances in that discussion. But the main point about this inquiry was that much of it was redacted - the government clearly found it very hard to reveal the information involved, which has rightly angered the families of victims. There were some worrying details - in the small print was information about how intervention was stunted for Calocane because there were concerns that staff might be accused of racism for wanting to section him. If you tell the public that they can’t know things like this, it breeds suspicion and mistrust.

This trend of withholding information relates to the Southport murders, too. And I asked a question this week about why the government refused to allow information to be publicly known. Much of the misinformation, speculation and unsavoury commentary online about the murders could have been avoided if the government had been clearer about Axel Rudakubana and his motives - not gaslighting people for wondering whether his views had been linked to terrorism.

There does seem to be a shift in the government and CPS’ attitude to dealing with terrorism - there has been sufficient backlash about why Prevent is failing, for example, demanding that the government intervene. So it is positive that that discussion has been opened up - but, depressingly, the answer the government seems to have come up with is more regulation of the public square. The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill creates unending box-ticking regulation in the name of protecting public events which will strangle smaller venues’ ability to function and bankrupt many. Village fetes, small football clubs, political organisations - they will all have to go on training assessments or pay for special measures to meet policy requirements and, in the end, most won’t bother putting on events. I made the point that this will, ironically, give the terrorists what they want - a smaller, less free public square.

As usual, my fellow Lords did not appreciate my comment - one even suggested that I was happy with a certain number of people dying if it meant being able to hold events. What that disgusting comment avoids is the reality that previous attackers, in Manchester and Southport, for example, were known to the authorities. Rudakubana called Childline and told them he wanted to kill people. The idea that red tape around Christmas markets is going to prevent terrorist attacks is ridiculous, and a dangerous avoidance of where the real problems lie.

Committee stage is where you go line by line in the Lords, but in the Commons it’s a little different - politicians can call on witnesses. And one bill - the Assisted Dying Bill - has caused great controversy at committee stage as the process has become completely corrupted. The witnesses are disproportionately in support of assisted suicide, there are a limited number of MPs who are sceptical and the reporting has been biased. While there has been an attempt to shield this process from public view, some MPs like Danny Kruger have made a real effort to report on what has been going on to shed some light on it all. The attempt to keep this behind closed doors is outrageous. Everything should always be out in the open for public debate - especially a morally contentious issue like this.

As legislators, we should always be looking for public engagement, not hiding from it, which is why I’ll continue to report to you from inside the Lords. See you next week.

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