After spirited campaigning by pro-justice figures Labour has U-turned on its plans to scrap a courts archive which is crucial to journalists. Lammy’s MoJ took issue with software used by Courtsdesk on some small occasion and tried to scrap the whole thing…
Courtsdesk is a golden goose for court and crime reporters because it has access to records that are otherwise unavailable to journalists. Labour was trying to have the five-year archive deleted forever…
The MoJ has paused its deletion order. The Tories are claiming victory, and said:
“Under pressure from campaigners, journalists, survivors and the Conservatives, Lammy is no longer hitting the delete button on court records. Courtsdesk has provided a vital service, and it is right that this vital database should be preserved. If we are going to stop the rape gangs and expose other patterns of criminal behaviour, we need comprehensive and accurate data.”
Sunlight is the best disinfectant…
Starmer was read out a list of his 13 U-turns on BBC Radio 2, to which he responded:
“Well, I am a common sense merchant.”