Lib Dems determined to drive change on domestic abuse law, says MP at conference
An MP has said the Liberal Democrats are 'determined to drive change' on domestic abuse law after recalling his childhood experiences.
Josh Babarinde, the MP for Eastbourne, told the party's spring conference in Harrogate on Saturday that he would table an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill to create specific offences for those guilty of domestic abuse.
Mr Babarinde has spoken in the past about how his mother and he were subject to abuse from her ex-partner when he was a child.
He described his childhood experiences 'seeing broken glass or a kicked-in hoover' and 'not knowing whether mum was OK' to the Commons on Monday.
The Eastbourne MP introduced the measure at the conference by saying: 'This mission is pretty personal to me.'
He said: 'One in five people will experience domestic abuse in their lifetimes, and that needs to change, but too often, the law leaves survivors without the protection they deserve.
'The Government's emergency early release scheme made that painfully clear last year. Recognising the problems that a scheme like that would cause for survivors, the Government made a commitment to try to exclude domestic abusers from that scheme.'
The Government began freeing thousands of inmates early in September in emergency measures to curb jail overcrowding.
'But it hasn't been the case in practise,' Mr Babarinde continued. 'This is because an exclusion of that sort of domestic abusers from an early release scheme can only be made on the basis of the offence committed.
'But there is no specific offence of domestic abuse in the law, so it is impossible at the moment to commit to such a task.
'Instead, many domestic abusers are convicted of general offences like actual bodily harm, assault or battery that do not reflect the full gravity of the abuse.'
The Eastbourne MP said that he had discussed the issue with the victims minister who he said had confirmed 'that there is a problem here' and the Government is 'actively considering how we can better identify domestic abuse offenders'.
Mr Babarinde added: 'We can only change this through legislation, and I'm determined to drive that change on behalf of our party.
'We have rallied together MPs from across the house to back this, including, crucially, some Labour MPs who are privately offering their support and who look increasingly willing to speak out.'
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