Part of the debate – in the House of Commons am 12:00 am ar 4 Rhagfyr 1973.
I am trying to keep my speech short. But if a man offends in this way, then he must take the consequences. In the final analysis, that is what all the law breakers who established our freedoms were prepared to do.
In this case, there is room for criticism of the judge and of the court. It is true that High Court judges are sometimes appointed from former practising politicians of all three parties, but it was perhaps a little insensitive to appoint to this particularly sensitive court a judge who had been a practising Conservative politician. I do not suggest for one moment that that has affected his judgment—