Yesterday, justice secretary Shabana Mahmood declared that Labour would release thousands more serious criminals to avoid the “total collapse” of the justice system, admitting that not sending convicts to jail will be difficult for the party. Now, ex-Tory turned Labour sentencing tsar David Gauke has published his heavily-trailed ‘soft on crime’ sentencing review. You can already hear the champagne popping from early-released convicts…
The key measures, which Mahmood is expected to accept in the Commons later, are:
Gauke said: “The scale of the crisis we are in cannot be understated. Overcrowded prisons are leading to dangerous conditions for staff and contributing to high levels of reoffending. We cannot build our way out of it.” Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick warned scrapping short prison sentences “is a dangerous mistake.” Mahmood was right when she said these measures go against principles of ‘law-and-order’…
Kemi Badenoch at the 1922-ConHome bash last night:
“I did praise [Burnham] for his stamina, it was amazing. All I had to do was sit back and lie there. I didn’t have to do anything at all…”