Andy Burnham has ordered the Ministry of Justice to comb through paper records to exclude any rape gang offenders from walking free from prison early, after The Times reported some were inexplicably not excluded from the early release scheme. The ‘Roll-Royce’ British state in action…
Burnham announced on Tuesday that anyone convicted of rape, serious child sex offences or grooming would be taken off the scheme. The exemption missed anyone whose crimes predate the 2003 anti-grooming laws, with those men were charged with indecent assault instead. That includes five men jailed in Bradford last October for abusing a girl in care from the age of 13.
Downing Street says the review is happening “urgently” and the PM has intervened personally. Presumably from his sun lounger…
Burnham confirms he spoke to Trump last night about drilling in the North Sea:
“I indicated in the phone call that we had a week last Monday that I would take a pragmatic approach when it comes to the North Sea, and that is my intention as we go forward from here. There is a resource there. When people are struggling, we can’t ignore that. Hence, me indicating that to the president…”