Blunting Kitchen Knives and Remembering Catherine Stables
Report back from Andy Slaughter, MP for Hammersmith and Chiswick
Andy Slaughter MP
March 24, 2025
My diary has been busy with the Justice Committee, as we have had two more evidence sessions and a visit in the last two weeks. In the first evidence session we heard from education providers and experts to aid our inquiry into rehabilitation and resettlement. It was a very useful session and will no doubt feed into the resulting recommendations to improve education within the prison system.
In the next evidence session, the first in our inquiry into the Work of the County Court, we heard from Sir Geoffrey Vos, Master of Rolls. The Master of Rolls is the second most senior judge in England and Wales, and they are consulted on many things including the civil justice system. This session was useful to gain an insight into the digitisation and reform programme, delays and problems within the County Court.
The committee visit to the civil justice centre and court in Northampton last week was also very useful in getting an idea of the challenges facing the system up close and will be used to inform the inquiry.
I took part in a number of debates last week in Parliament, on Wednesday, I spoke in the Westminster Hall debate about miscarriage of justice compensation. You can see my full speech here, but I spoke about some concerns with the current procedure in dealing with to miscarriages of justice as well as the issue of compensation.
On Thursday I spoke in the knife crime debate and again raised the use of kitchen knives and the devastation that this causes. Most people do not use the pointed tip of their kitchen knives in cooking and pointed knives are more likely to pierce vital organs and sever arteries—injuries that are far more likely to be fatal. I again called on the Government to implement a scheme to phase out pointed kitchen knives.
On Thursday in the Commons I called on the Government to take action after Israel broke the ceasefire in Gaza in such a violent manner.
I recently visited Liberty Global, a global telecommunications company, at their UK office which is based in Hammersmith. It was great to meet the staff who work in the Hammersmith office and hear about more about the business and what they do. It is always great to meet with businesses locally and to see how they are embedded into the local community.
I did a walk about in the town centre in Hammersmith on Friday to look at opportunities to improve the area. It was interesting to hear about the ideas that local investors have and the challenges that the area presents.
Last week I paid my respects at the funeral of Catherine Stables, a long-term Hammersmith resident and one of the founders of Brackenbury Residents Association. She was assiduous in standing up for people in Hammersmith and she is greatly missed by those who knew her.
Best,
Andy
andy@andyslaughter.com
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