Here you can see a summary of my voting record and the most recent contributions I have made in the House of Commons, including oral and written questions, speeches and debates.
I also propose and support a wide range of important Early Day Motions, and take part in debates in Westminster Hall, and in All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) to work cross-party on a number of issues.
If you are a constituent, please get in touch if you would like more information about my work on any particular topic you care about, or if you would like me to take up an issue that will help you.
Contributions in the House:
- Siân Berry: I support this clause quite strongly. We heard powerfully from Claire Throssell in oral evidence how important its impact could be. Most Members will have experiences like mine through casework of cases where this clause could help. I have heard from parents and family members so distressed at how their cases have been […]
- Siân Berry: It is great to see you back in the Chair to help us to make our way through the Bill, Ms Jardine. New clause 28 is a probing amendment, and I shall not press it to a Division when the time comes. To give the context for why I have tabled the new […]
- Siân Berry: I will speak briefly in support of the amendment, to which I have put my name. Later, I hope to speak about the real difference between viewing evidence—seeing it given in real life, or going into the room where evidence is given—and being able to review it more dispassionately later in writing. Given […]
- Siân Berry: I am happy to have you back in the Chair today, Dr Huq. I wish to oppose the clause and the schedule. I am grateful to the hon. Member for Bolton South and Walkden for pointing out so clearly that the restrictions on appeals will push down hardest on the least advantaged people […]
- Siân Berry: It is very good to see you in the Chair this evening, Ms Jardine; thank you for looking after us. I will speak very briefly in support of the amendment, to which I have added my name. I have spoken already about the many risks piling up with the Bill, and this amendment […]
- Siân Berry: I will speak as quickly as I can. I support the amendments tabled in this group by the Liberal Democrats, which would limit any increase in the sentencing powers of magistrates beyond 12 months; amendment 34, which was moved by the hon. Member for Bolton South and Walkden; and the Liberal Democrat and […]
- Siân Berry: The Minister has already said “particularly complex or lengthy”, and just then she said “complex and lengthy”. Having rejected an amendment that would have set a limit of five months, will she think again about defining both complex and lengthy more rigorously in the Bill? The explanatory notes say “complex and lengthy”, but […]
- Siân Berry: I have to add my voice to the point that this is an unsatisfactory situation. We have heard time and again from the Minister that the decision about allocation will be made based only on the length of sentence, but in proposed new section 74C(7)(a) to (g) on reallocation—(g) allows for any other […]
- Siân Berry: On a point of order, Dr Huq. I alerted the Minister earlier to the fact that I was going to say this. I want to ask what can be done to correct the record in respect of the Minister’s comments about a case that I referred to in my speeches on Tuesday and […]
- Siân Berry: I appreciate the Minister’s comments, but will she clarify what she meant by a particular category of offence? I could not have been clearer in my speech that I did not want to make an exception for protesters. I spoke specifically about people being prosecuted in cases where it was the powerful versus […]
- Siân Berry: It is great to have you in the Chair, Dr Huq. I am looking forward to today’s debates. I have not tabled any amendments to clause 3, but I want to talk about some necessary changes to the clause that fit in with this group of amendments. I hope the Committee will have […]
- Siân Berry: Last month, a national newspaper intruded on the privacy of one of the families bereaved by the meningitis outbreak, publishing information that the family had asked to be kept private. In opposition, Labour promised independent regulation of the press to curb this awful behaviour, so when exactly will the Secretary of State keep […]
- Siân Berry: What steps her Department is taking to help protect the public from press malpractice.
- Siân Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether proposed SEND reforms will consider the experiences of SEND children with regards to SATs.
- Siân Berry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she will consider the experiences of SEND children in SATs, and include reform of SATs and other statutory assessment in the government's plans to put inclusion at the heart of education.
- Siân Berry: Apologies to the Minister for heckling. The point about the right of appeal is absolutely key. If mistakes are made in the magistrates court, it is currently the case that they are corrected at quite a rate. We heard evidence on that. Those two things give Opposition Members genuine and legitimate cause for […]
- Siân Berry: The Minister has made many points about magistrates court hearings being as fair, but she seems to have forgotten the amount of evidence we heard during the oral evidence sessions. Witnesses acknowledged that magistrate court hearings were “rough and ready” and “rough around the edges”, that mistakes may be made, and that the […]
- Siân Berry: Tim Crosland’s point was that the Government are, in effect, abolishing the principle of jury equity. Can the Minister tell us that we cannot ever expect a judge to triage a case based on the fact that the true interests of justice might lie with a defendant relying on the principle of jury […]
- Siân Berry: We are debating clause 1, which as I understand it will completely remove defendants’ right to elect; the rest of the Bill puts in place procedures whereby other people—judges—will decide whether a jury trial is held. The right to elect a jury trial is being completely abolished. Is that not correct?
- Siân Berry: rose—
>> You can see my full list of contributions since I was elected via They Work For You
Voting record:
My voting record is available on the Parliament website here:
https://members.parliament.uk/member/5314/voting
Early Day Motions:
You can see which Early Day Motions I am supporting in the current Parliament here:
https://members.parliament.uk/member/5314/earlydaymotions
APPG officer roles:
I am currently Co-Chair of the APPG on Poverty and Inequality, Vice Chair of the City Regions Transport APPG, and an officer of the APPG on Eating Disorders and the Humanism APPG.