Labour’s populist pantomime over sentencing rules plays into the hands of the right | Janey Starling

A The guideline principle of progressive rule that was scheduled to enter into force today in culture wars was dropped. This is devastating news for the people whose lives had changed by the guideline principle, such as Pregnant women and mothers.

The guideline principle issued by the Judicial Council “imposing societal sentences and custody” pointed to a change in the issuance of judgments. It was possible for judges and judges to consult a prenatal report before they decided whether a person would be imprisoned from an ethnic or religious minority, along with other groups, including adult young and survivors of mothers’ abuse. He could take into account the structural variations in the results of the issuance of rulings, such as A great danger of salvation Pregnant women face imprisonment and damage caused by the separation of mothers from children. It would also have provided measures to combat racism in the courts. The United Nations described our judicial system Systematic racismAnd the 2017 review conducted by Minister now David Lami confessedRacist“.

The guideline principle was the policy led by the evidence led by the Governing Council in accurate consultation with criminal justice experts. England and Wales in the grip of the prisons overcrowding crisis, which is supervised by the Minister of Prisons, James Timpson, who called for the need for “Policy out of governmentIn this context, you believe that the government will install these new changes, which can reduce the inhabitants of women prisoners in particular.

Instead, Lord, the counselor, Shabana Mahmoud, chose the performance of a popular Pantomim, incited by the Minister of Justice, shadow, Robert Jenrik. When the ruling council announced the guideline principle last month, Jenrick described “justice justice.” This is repeated by Tommy Robinson.Bilateral police“A slogan of riots last summer, which claimed that the white right -wing demonstrators were treated more cruel than ethnic minorities.

Jenrik’s trick to kidnap the guideline is not surprising: this is the same man who resigned as Minister of Immigration in 2023 because the Rwanda deportation plan did not do.Go away enoughWhat really raises the horrific is that Mahmoud decided to play in an attempt to beat conservative and reformist voters in the United Kingdom.

The first rule of political communications is that you do not repeat your opposition, even to refute it. Repeat right slogans only enhance its strength. Mahmoud’s response was that “there will be no foolish and dangerous approach under two levels.” Instead of challenging the slogan of dogs, it gave legitimacy to it, which then led to its recurrence through the press. When the Governing Council grabbed his hedges, Mahmoud threatened to pass the emergency legislation to cancel it. The Council, Browbeaten, commented the implementation of the guideline principle.

It is interesting to see another workers’ government seeking to appease the right of the right -wing voters by strengthening the “difficult crime” perishing link that encouraged our judicial system over the past thirty years. It was the new punitive position of the work of the Labor Party that prompted the number of prisons by 40 % between 1997 and 2010. They made a feverish time in the law, and Tony Blair and Gordon Brown combined began more than 3,500 new criminal crimes, and the courts began to deliver an increasing period – and it was not not specified in the event of the forefront. IPP scandal – The sentences that contributed directly to the prisons overcrowding crisis that we see today. England and Wales have The highest imprisonment rate In Western Europe. Statistics are clear: prison creates more problems than it is permissible.

However, political discussions on criminal justice cases are never related to facts; They are opportunities for political parties to score points against each other. This is the trend known as “Punish popularityAnd that was cited by a review of the government’s independent rule as the main driver of our crowded prisons. The political size in criminal justice is one of the party’s brands, but Mahmoud’s willingness to perform on the popular theater is the lowest new level.

• Jani Starling is the co -director of the gender justice group

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