Shabana Mahmood is in the Commons to announce which bits of Gauke’s Sentencing Review the government will accept. It’s almost the entire lot…
Only one substantial recommendation hasn’t been taken up – to reduce the sentence lengths for the most serious offenders from two thirds to a half. The rest all go in:
Mahmood also said trials on the voluntary chemical castration of sex offenders will be expanded and she will “exploring whether mandating the approach is possible.” No policy yet…
Jenrick responded by saying the changes are “a recipe for a crime wave… discounts so big they’d make Aldi and Lidl blush.” He added that the Lady Chief Justice has offered extra court sitting days to free up prison spaces and that Texas – Mahmood’s stated model for changes – has a five-times higher incarceration rate than the UK and built 75,000 extra cells between 1993 and 1996. Putting criminals in prison should be the focus of the justice system…
Sarah Pochin at Reform Scotland’s manifesto launch event: “I really wanted to come on in a Reform tartan burka, but apparently I wasn’t allowed… One day let’s do one of these events not live-streamed. We’ll do all the naughty stuff…”