Tory and Reform MPs alike are jumping on the latest guidelines from the Sentencing Council which go into effect next month. They include new differential rules for people of “minority” races or faiths…
Robert Jenrick raised the issue in the Commons and asked Shabana Mahmood why pre-sentence reports – which lower the likelihood of imprisonment – are to be “considered necessary” for individuals “from an ethnic minority, cultural minority, and/or faith minority community.” Mahmood replied:
“As somebody who is of an ethnic minority background myself I do not stand for any differential treatment before the law for anyone of any kind and there will never be a two-tier sentencing approach under my watch or under this Labour government.”
That doesn’t come close to explaining the new bizarre guidelines. The government has a representative on that Sentencing Council. Labour will have to get a grip of this one…
UPDATE: On cue, Mahmood claims she did not know about this. Despite government representative Claire Fielding being present at the sign-off meeting…
Speaking on Times Radio, former Home Secretary David Blunkett spoke about overdiagnosis of mental problems:
“Let’s distinguish those who are really severely mentally ill, diagnosed with things that require prolonged medical and diagnostic treatment. My wife and I talk about this a lot, because she’s a retired GP, about the fact that you can be sad without being ill. You can be momentarily depressed because your boyfriend or girlfriend’s just thrown you and you’re not mentally ill. You can even have mild issues, which can be dealt with with the right kind of support, but it doesn’t make you mentally ill. So we’ve got a real task, I think, to get the psychology, if you like, of this over. But there are things where you definitely need medical intervention, and there are other things where you need good friends, you need good connectivity, and you need a job.”
