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08-05-2025

Government accused of 'running scared of right-wingers' over sentencing bill
The government has been accused of "running scared" over its bill to block new sentencing guidelines.
In a debate held on the government's bill today, peers accused Labour of trying to "feed a culture war" and warned they are "damaging public understanding".
What is the row over sentencing all about about?
Labour's Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-Sentence Reporters) Bill has been introduced to block recommendations from the Sentencing Council.
The independent body recommended that a pre-sentence report should be prepared before offenders from ethnic, cultural or faith minorities are sentenced.
These reports provide information about the perpetrator's background, circumstances of the offence, the risky they pose and the suitability of different types of sentence - and are already in use for some cases.
The body argued that these should become more routine for certain groups due to disparities in how different people are sentenced.
Watch: The shadow justice secretary calls the guidelines 'blatant bias against straight, white men'
The Lammy Review, a 2017 report, found that those from minority backgrounds were more likely to face harsher sentences than their counterparts.
But following the announcement from the Council, the Conservatives said it would lead to differential treatment under law and a "two-tier" justice system.
The government then introduced their bill to block the new guidelines and it means that the Council's recommendations will not come into effect while parliament considers the legislation.
'The government is running scared of these nasty right-wingers'
During a second reading of the bill in the Lords today, Green Party Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb accused the government of trying to "interfere" in the workings of an independent body.
She said: "The Sentencing Council is an independent body that saw a problem and tried to do something about it.
"It has done what it was designed to do and now the Labour government is running scared of these rather nasty right-wingers who are trying to interfere.
"We do not have equality under the law", she added.
"We've known about women being less fairly treated for decades, with women being imprisoned for things that men would not be.
"The Sentencing Council came up with the mildest of changes to address that issue and has been slammed for it."
Baroness Jenny Jones said that "everybody wants" equality under the law and said that is what the advice of the Council is seeking to implement.
The Bishop of Gloucester meanwhile branded the bill "theatrical" and said it has been brought about by the "am-dram of politics".
The Rt Rev Rachel Treweek said everybody should receive a pre-sentence report in an ideal world, but said that it "makes sense to prioritise those that we know are especially vulnerable".
She added: "The use of the Sentencing Council guidelines to apparently feed a culture war is distressing, and the allegation of two-tier sentencing based around race, religion, belief or cultural background is so damaging to public understanding."
The government is aiming to ensure equality before the law
Responding, prisons minister Lord Timpson said: "Implementing a sentencing guideline, which could lead to differential treatment before the law, puts trust in the legal system at risk, which is why we acted quickly to address this.
"The Government's objective is to help ensure equality before the law. We are clear that an offender should be judged by a court on an individual basis according to the particular facts and circumstances of their case.
"Any reference to preferential treatment for a particular cohort is unacceptable."