asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why he will not set in train consultations with interested parties, including the judiciary, as to whether the law should be amended in order to make the imposition of prison sentences mandatory for those convicted of armed robbery.

The discretion of the courts to pass, within the limits laid down by Parliament, what they think to be the appropriate sentence, having regard to all the facts relating to an individual case, is a valued feature of our system of justice. We see no reason to single out offences of armed robbery for special treatment in this respect.