§ Mr. StanbrookTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration he has given to the possible extension of the terms of section 9 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 to cover crimes of violence committed by British citizens outside the jurisdiction as a means of combating football hooliganism by Britons abroad.
§ Mr. John PattenI would not wish to rule out of consideration any effective means of tackling the problem of violence by British football supporters abroad. Given the evidential difficulties, however, it seems doubtful whether extraterritorial jurisdiction would in fact be an effective approach to the problem, or offer sufficient advantage to justify such a radical departure from the essentially territoral basis of our criminal law.