Shabana Mahmood to set out emergency measures, which could include reducing the time before some prisoners are automatically releasedRobert Buckland, the former secretary of state for justice and former MP, has appeared on Sky News to talk about the prison crisis.He said that only 6,000 of the 20,000 new places the Tories promised by the end of this year have been created, and that the prison building programme “which I started with Rishi Sunak is coming forward, but not at a pace that is quick enough I think to meet demand”.My advice to the new Justice Secretary – and I wish her well, she’s just come into post – is to make sure that we aren’t releasing people who could pose a risk, particularly domestic abusers, stalkers, those types of offenders. I think it would be wholly inappropriate to release them.I think we do need to be absolutely iron on our commitment to protect the public. And the new government would be best advised to make that clear from the outset. Because sending mixed messages about punishment is not a good way, frankly, to start a penal policy when you’ve just taken office. Continue reading…
Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2024/jul/12/justice-secretary-prisons-overcrowding-keir-starmer-labour-uk-politics-latest-updates
Author : Martin Belam
Publish date : 2024-07-12 15:00:01
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.