MP 'can't imagine hell Keaton Slater's parents face'
BBCA Warwickshire MP has said he "cannot image the hell" endured by the parents of 12-year-old Keaton Slater, who was killed in a hit-and-run in Coventry.
Dolars Aleksanders struck the schoolboy with a black BMW 330 on Radford Road on 14 June 2024. He fled to his native Latvia and evaded police for two years before being extradited to the UK.
Aleksanders is due to be sentenced for causing death by dangerous driving on Friday.
Jeremy Wright MP said: "They (have) shown remarkable courage in being able to express, as they have, their pain and what they want to happen."
Mr Wright, who was the Tory government's top law officer for four years, said offenders had a responsibility to confront the harm they had caused and those who refuse to attend sentencing should face extra time in prison. New powers to compel offenders to attend are expected to be in force next year.
A judge has ordered Aleksanders to attend after concerns he could refuse. Keaton's mother, Louise, said she wanted him to hear directly how her son's death had affected the family.
The MP for Kenilworth and Southam was speaking on BBC CWR's Hot Seat. Here are five other takeaways from the interview.
'Increase in family breakdown has added to housing crisis'
Speaking about the rapid growth of housing developments, he said that there was not enough infrastructure to support people's needs. Essential services such as GP surgeries were an afterthought rather than being planned from the start.
"If you go back 50 years, and look at a family that didn't split up, you're looking at a four-bedroom house. But if you look at a family that splits up, you need two, three-bedroom houses so kids can go and stay with both parents. So you've increased your housing needs by 50% by that one consequence. So its more than just the increases in population, it's the way we live".
Wright also pointed to more people living alone and parents continuing to live in larger properties as their adult children couldn't afford to move out due to high house prices.
Houses of Parliament'Don't just tell people to 'be ready', without telling them how'.
Asked about the government's "Be Ready" emergency preparedness campaign, launched on 22 October, Wright criticized the advice for not being specific enough. The public awareness campaign encouraged households to prepare for disruption to essential services caused by severe weather or cyber-attacks.
People were advised to keep three days' worth of food and water at home, as well as wet wipes, a torch and cash. But Wright argued that "if you don't give people enough information, they may not do what you're expecting. You need to be specific enough to be helpful, without causing a run on products." He referred to people buying large quantities of toilet roll during the pandemic causing shortages.
Sales of hand sanitiser increased by 83%, bottled water by 67%, and tinned and jarred goods by 37% in the 10 days after the campaign launched, according to retail research firm Worldpanel by Numerator.
'Ofcom needs to hold Royal Mail accountable'.
The MP said Ofcom needed to do more to hold Royal Mail to account after it was allowed to reduce second-class letter deliveries to every other weekday because of falling demand.
He said Royal Mail needed to be more transparent about what it could realistically deliver, agree reasonable service standards and then meet them.
"Some people have waited up to three weeks for important letters, including hospital appointment notifications. That is not acceptable."
He advocated measures such as fines to ensure the service delivered on realistic expectations.
'I rather like Andy Burnham. I probably shouldn't say that as a Conservative'.
Speaking about Andy Burnham, he said success as mayor of Greater Manchester would not necessarily translate into success as prime minister.
"He cannot simply do what he did in Manchester. It won't work nationally".
He continued to warn about the dangers of popularity and public perceptions stating "if you continue to let people believe you can solve every problem, it will only lead to disappointment."
'Lego helps me with stress'.
Away from politics, Wright joked that his wife would say he believed it was impossible to have too much Lego.
"To anybody who doesn't build Lego, give it a try. If there is stress in your life, it can be immensely therapeutic. I enjoy putting the sets together, displaying them and then taking them apart".
He said it was part of his wellbeing practice and encouraged others to do creative activities to help lower stress.
"We all need to look after our mental health. This is what works for me, as it does for many others, including David Beckham and Ed Sheeran." He finished the interview by joking that he was not sponsored by Lego but a lifelong fan.