Category: Criminal Justice

Shabana Mahmood – 2025 Speech on the Probation Service

The speech made by Shabana Mahmood, the Lord Chancellor, at Southwark in London on 12 February 2025.

Today, we are in Southwark, the home of London’s probation service, one of the busiest in the country.

Here in London, the Service supervises more than 36,000 offenders.

And, every day, in this building, there are a thousand untold stories of how our probation service protects the public and makes our streets safer.

I want to talk about the future of our probation service today.

But to look to that future, I think we must first look to the past.

Because it was here, in Southwark, that the probation service first took root.

Over 150 years ago, the Church of England’s temperance movement posted a man called George Nelson to Southwark’s police court.

Nelson was the first of a band of missionaries, driven by their faith and strict teetotalism, who gave up their time to help offenders give up the drink.

Addiction then, as addiction now, drove much criminal behaviour…

And the approach worked.

In fact, it worked so well that the courts came to rely on missionaries like Nelson.

A system soon developed where offenders would be released on the condition that they kept in touch with these volunteers.

Because what began as a moral cause proved to have a practical purpose:

These missionaries led to less crime and fewer victims.

As this Government might say: they made our streets safer.

By the early twentieth century, this voluntary service was so greatly valued that it was placed on a statutory footing.

The 1907 Probation of Offenders Act established the first formal structure for probation…

And the volunteers became professionals.

In the years that followed, the service grew:

The 1925 Criminal Justice Act paid probation officers a regular wage.

By the 1950s, probation’s work expanded to offenders on parole.

And by the 1980s, the service was focused increasingly on prison releases.

Over time, the role developed.

Where the early missionaries were focused on crimes driven by addiction…

In time, they took responsibility for the management of ever more, and ever more complex, offenders.

Too often overlooked, with our focus invariably falling on the police or on prisons…

Probation became an indispensable part of a criminal justice system that keeps us safe.

It remains so today, now a service that is more than 20,000 strong…

And probation officers supervise almost a quarter of a million offenders – around three times the number currently serving time in our prisons.

Each year, they oversee more than 4 million hours of community payback.

They monitor around 9,000 offenders on a tag at any given moment.

They provide sentencing advice to hundreds of courts every single day.

And they also provide a vital link to tens of thousands of victims, through the Victim Contact and the Victim Notification schemes.

But while there have been bright moments in the service’s past, we must acknowledge the dark days too.

In 2014 the service was split:

Part remained in the public sector, managing the highest-risk offenders.

The rest was hived off, to be run by the private sector, who would supervise those of low and medium risk.

Community Rehabilitation Companies would bring the ingenuity of the private sector to solve the problem of reoffending.

The rhetoric was of a revolution in how we manage offenders.

The reality was far different.

Workloads increased, as new offenders were brought under supervision for the first time…

The number of people on probation increased between December 2014 and December 2016, with almost 50,000 offenders newly under its remit.

Scarce resources were stretched further than ever…

Morale plummeted.

And worrying numbers voted with their feet, leaving the service altogether…

With the Inspector of Probation declaring a “national shortage” of probation professionals in 2019.

The new companies woefully underperformed.

Between 2017 and 2018, just 5 of 37 audits carried out by HMPPS demonstrated that expected standards were being met.

In 2019, 8 out of 10 companies inspected received the lowest possible rating – “inadequate” – for supervising offenders.

The Chief Inspector called them “irredeemably flawed”.

And the service was labelled ‘inadequate’.

In 2021, it was finally, rightly, re-unified and re-nationalised.

Now, make no mistake…

Every day, across the country, probation staff make this country safer.

This was clearly evident in the service’s response to the prison capacity crisis.

With prisons just days from collapse, this Government was forced to introduce an emergency release programme, which saw some offenders leave prison a few weeks or months early.

The alternative, as I said at the time, did not bear thinking about:

We would have been forced to shut the front door of our prisons…

An act that would have sent dominoes tumbling through our justice system:

Courts unable to hold trials…

Police forced to halt arrests…

And the eventual path to a total breakdown of law and order.

In making that decision, I knew the probation service would have to carry an even heavier load.

They would have to put in place plans for the safe release of prisoners in just a few weeks.

I tried to give them as much time as I possibly could to prepare:

An eight-week implementation period.

It wasn’t long to prepare, but the probation service used it with great skill.

But now is also a moment to be honest about the challenges the service faces.

And the simple fact is this:

The service was burdened with a workload that was, quite simply, impossible.

When we took office, we discovered that orders handed out by courts were not taking place.

In the 3 years to March 2024 around 13,000 Accredited Programmes, a type of rehabilitative course, did not happen.

This wasn’t because an offender had failed to do what was expected of them…

But instead because the Probation Service had been unable to deliver these courses.

As I have shown already in this job, I believe in confronting problems, not pretending they are not there.

And so, we will ensure only those offenders who pose a higher risk, and who need to receive these courses, will do so.

This isn’t a decision I take lightly.

But it is a decision to confront the reality of the challenges facing the probation service.

I should be clear:

For those who will not complete an accredited programme, they remain under the supervision of a probation officer…

And all the other requirements placed upon them will remain in place.

Any breach of a community sentence could see them hauled back into court.

Any breach of a licence condition could see them back behind bars.

Addressing individual issues like these, however, is no long-term solution to the challenges the probation service faces.

Today, across the country, probation officers are spread too thin – responsible for caseloads and workloads that exceed what they should be expected to handle.

Probation officers are drawn to the profession not because it is just another job.

This job is a vocation, even a calling…

They are, after all, the inheritors of those missionaries of 150 years ago.

They are experts in their discipline…

Who want to know that their work is protecting the public…

And keeping offenders on the straight and narrow.

Over-stretched, they can’t work with offenders in the way they need to.

And the burden placed on probation officers’ shoulders grow heavier and heavier.

It has driven people away from the job…

It has made the public less safe…

And it has to change.

It is clear we need to bring more people into the probation service.

In July, I committed to bringing on 1,000 trainee probation officers by March of this year.

But we must go further.

Today, I can announce that, next year, we will bring on at least 1,300 new, trainee probation officers.

New probation officers are the lifeblood of the service, and they will guarantee its future.

But they are not enough alone.

It is also clear we must remove the administrative burden that weighs probation officers down…

And makes them less effective in their roles.

Today, too many hours of probation officer time are wasted each day.

They are drowning in paperwork.

And I don’t mean metaphorical paperwork.

I mean literal pen and paperwork.

This takes up valuable time, that would be better spent working with offenders…

And it also introduces the risk of error – the failure to identify the critical piece of information that might shape a professional’s judgement of the risk that an offender poses.

Where digital processes do exist in the probation service, they can be difficult to navigate.

Information is stored in multiple different systems that do not speak to each other.

And probation officers are forced, laboriously, to type the same information time and again.

We will soon pilot a digital tool that will put all the information a probation officer needs to know into one place.

Over time, this will include information from other agencies, like the police as we need to make sure data is more readily shared, so that probation can make better decisions.

We’re also trialling a new system for risk assessing offenders, to make it more straightforward for probation officers to make robust decisions.

A group of officers in Brighton started using this in December last year…

And we estimate it will cut up to 20 percent of the time it takes to do this crucial activity.

It might sound simple, but the impact could be considerable.

Every minute saved is more time probation officers can spend working with offenders.

Less simple, but even more transformational, there’s the potential of artificial intelligence.

We are currently looking into voice transcription.

This would automatically record and transcribe supervision conversations by taking notes in real time…

Allowing probation officers to focus on building relationships, while also removing the need for them to enter handwritten notes into a computer afterwards.

In time, we believe that AI could play a more active role in supporting staff to supervise offenders – for example, drawing on the data we have on an offender to suggest a supervision plan tailored to them.

This new technology will ensure probation officers provide what only they can:

The human factor.

The ability to work with an offender, one-to-one, to understand the risk they pose…

To develop a plan for how to manage it…

Ultimately, to turn them away from a life of crime – and so protect the public.

That is what remains true about the probation officer’s job now, just as it was 150 years ago.

The courts didn’t turn to the temperance movement’s missionaries because they were great at paperwork.

They did so because of how they worked with offenders.

They knew – in the words of the Government Minister who brought in the 1907 Probation Act – how “to guide and admonish” an offender to make the public safer.

But while new staff and better technology are necessary to the future of our probation service…

They are not sufficient.

With a caseload of nearly a quarter of a million offenders…

We must also look at the work that probation officers are doing…

And we must ask:

Where should their time be spent…

And, more specifically, who should their time be spent with to have the greatest impact?

In this, it is clear there are two types of offender.

On the one hand, we have those who pose a higher risk to society.

In this group, we have those who are dangerous – posing a real risk of harm to the public.

We also have those whose offending is prolific – the one in every ten offenders who is guilty of nearly half of all sentenced crime.

On the other hand, we have offenders who pose a lower risk.

They are not serial offenders, with a high risk of reoffending.

Their crimes are instead often fuelled by addiction, homelessness, and joblessness.

These crimes are not excusable.

All crimes must be punished.

But these two groups – the higher and lower risk – are different.

If we want to reduce reoffending, cut crime and have safer streets, we have to treat them differently.

And too often today, we don’t.

We have a one size fits all approach.

That must change.

For higher-risk offenders, a probation officer’s time and focus is essential.

It is no exaggeration to say that effective supervision of this cohort can be the difference between life and death.

We all know the tragedies:

I think of Terri Harris, her children John Paul and Lacey Bennett and Lacey’s friend Connie Gent, savagely murdered by Damien Bendall in 2021, when Bendall was serving a community sentence.

And I think of Zara Aleena, murdered by Jordan McSweeney in 2022, just nine days after he had left prison on licence.

We will never be able to stop every tragedy.

But we have to stop more.

There are improvements that we can and must make to the processes probation officers follow, and the technology they use.

We have introduced new training, to better identify risk…

New digital tools, as I have mentioned already, will draw together the critical pieces of information from partner organisations, like the police.

But the vital ingredient is time:

The time of a professional probation officer…

Devoted to identifying the risk an offender poses…

Creating a plan to manage it…

And supervising, closely, that offender to ensure they do not deviate from it.

That is the human factor that only a probation officer can provide.

If probation officers are to have this valuable time with these offenders, we must be more efficient with the time they devote to lower-risk offenders.

At the very end of their time in office, my predecessor introduced a policy called Probation Reset.

This saw supervision of lower-risk offenders end after two-thirds of their licence period.

This was a step in the right direction.

The interventions that work best with lower risk offenders are not necessarily those provided by probation officers.

So that is where we must now direct the attention of their supervision.

We need to get these offenders off drugs and booze – reoffending rates are 19 points lower when an offender completes a drug treatment programme.

We need to ensure they have a roof over their heads – reoffending rates double for those released homeless.

And finally, we need to get them working – reoffending rates are up to 9 points lower when an offender is employed.

The probation service has a role to play here…

But their unique value is in referring offenders to the intervention that is required to address the cause of their offending.

And so today, I can announce that we will build on the work of Reset.

This Government will focus the probation service on the interventions that have the greater impact.

For lower risk offenders, we will task probation officers with providing a swifter intervention.

They will spend more time with an offender immediately after their release:

First, assessing the root causes of an offender’s crime…

Then referring them to the services that will address that behaviour:

Which could be education, training, drug treatment or accommodation…

Delivered by the probation service, our partners across Government, and through the brilliant work done by the voluntary sector.

Once offenders are following that direction, as long as the offender stays on the straight and narrow, we must then focus probation officer’s time more effectively:

That means more time spent with the offenders who pose the greater risk…

More time with offenders who pose a risk of a serious and violent further offence…

And more time with offenders whose prolific offending causes so much social and economic damage to local communities.

That is how we will reduce reoffending…

That is how we will cut crime…

And that is how we will make our streets safer.

These measures are necessary today, but they will be even more important in the months and years to come.

David Gauke’s independent review of sentencing will report soon.

He has been asked to ensure we never run out of prison places again.

There is no doubt that this will increase pressure on probation.

As I made clear when I announced the review, I have asked David to consider how we make more use of punishment outside of prison.

In my view, technology is likely to play a key role – taking advantage of advances in the tech that is being used here and in other jurisdictions:

Like sobriety tags, which can measure the alcohol levels in offenders’ sweat every 30 minutes, and have a 97 percent compliance rate…

And GPS tags, which can put in place exclusion zones to alert authorities if offenders enter areas we have banned them from.

There are also likely to be more sentences served in the community…

And more drug, alcohol and mental health treatment requirements placed on offenders.

These are the tools that must be at the judiciary’s disposal to deal with criminals…

And judges must have trust and confidence that the probation service can deliver them.

The changes I have announced today are about support for the probation service:

1,300 new trainee probation officers…

New technology to lighten the administrative burden…

And a new focus of their time on where it has the greatest impact.

Today, I have set out what I think the future direction of the probation service must be.

And I think we must, finally, consider the alternative.

What would happen if we allowed probation to carry on as it is?

What would happen if we allowed the service to be stretched so thin, trying to do too much with too many offenders…

Too much time spent doing the wrong things, and not enough time doing what is right and what works.

We know what the consequences would be.

We’ve seen it in the stories of far too many victims…

And the pain their friends and families have experienced – and continue to experience – every single day.

When the probation service isn’t able to properly assess the risk of offenders or supervise them…

Innocent people pay a terrible price.

The first job of the state is to keep its people safe.

We are willing to take the difficult decisions, where they must be taken.

I will support probation officers, both the new recruits we will bring in and the professionals of whom we have asked so much in recent years.

While they are professionals these days, and experts in their field…

They are drawn to the profession by the same desire that called to those missionaries a hundred and fifty years ago:

To encourage offenders to turn their backs on crime…

And to make our streets and the public safer.

To fulfil that purpose now, we must do things differently.

And that begins today.

Thank you.

February 22, 2025
James Timpson – 2024 Speech to the Prison Governors Association

The speech made by James Timpson, the Prisons Minister, on 8 October 2024.

Thank you for that introduction, Graham, and for the invitation to speak – it’s great to be here.

Thanks to everyone involved for putting this event together.

Let me start by saying just how grateful I am for the PGA’s work.

You speak up for change, where change is needed…

You push Government, where it needs to be pushed…

And you do it not just for those you represent, but in the interests of public safety too.

Your voice is valued, and we thank you for it… even when you say things we don’t necessarily want to hear.

I know it’s your first annual conference since becoming PGA President, Tom – congratulations again on your appointment.

Let me also congratulate your new Vice-Chairs, Mark, and Carl, on their appointments too.

I’ve known Tom for a while now – we once even shadowed each other a few years ago, when he was Governor at HMP Wakefield, and I headed up the Timpson Group.

I took Tom to visit some of our shops – one branch was in Uttoxeter Tesco, as I recall – while I found out what it’s like to lead one of our toughest prisons.

I know who has it harder…!

And now I’m wearing a new hat, I did ask Tom if he fancied another job swap – but for some reason he wasn’t up for it.

I can’t think why…

I realise that the CEO of a business and prison governor are very different roles – but there are similarities, too.

Both manage complex organisations. Both need a strategic brain, excellent management skills, the ability to communicate, inspire and motivate.

But the main difference is this: most people know what a CEO does, what their job entails.

You, on the other hand, are largely hidden from view. Even when prisons are plastered all over our TV screens, as they are right now.

The average person would have little idea about your day-to-day – what it really means to lead a prison in 2024, as Tom has set out so starkly just now.

Working every hour, under extraordinary pressure, to run safe and secure regimes.

Dealing with self-harm, deaths and the scourge of drugs on a daily basis.

Supporting your teams and trying to nurture them in an environment more stressful than most could imagine.

Every challenge amplified, because our prisons are full to bursting.

These are the realities you face every day.

Now, prisons have always fascinated me – since I was a young boy, and my Mum, Alex, would take the babies she’d fostered into HMP Styal, so their mothers could see them.

I’d sit outside in the car and wonder what was going on inside…

What had these women done that was so terrible, that they couldn’t be with their babies?

It was the start of a life-long interest.

And as you may know, around 10 percent of people who work for Timpson are ex-offenders.

It all started by chance 22 years ago, when, as a new CEO, I visited a local prison and met Matt – who got into a fight after his A-levels, and instead of going to university, went to jail.

Matt showed me around the wing, and I immediately liked him. He was bright, enthusiastic, and I thought he was just the sort of person we wanted in the business.

So I told him – “when you get out, I’ll give you a job.”

And the rest is history.

Matt went on to be one of our most successful branch managers – in a branch just a stone’s throw from the prison he served time in.

He’s still there today. And while he hasn’t gone far physically, he’s travelled lightyears in terms of what he’s achieved…

Because he had the will to turn his life around, and that extra support to get into work.

I knew there must be more great people like Matt in our prisons, and from then on, we decided to proactively recruit ex-offenders.

Later, working with you, we set up prison training academies…

Then to create Employment Advisory Boards, building those vital links between prisons and local employers.

And, in 2016, I was honoured to become Chair of the Prison Reform Trust.

So I’ve been behind the scenes.

And in that time, one constant has been your outstanding leadership, in the most challenging circumstances.

It has been a privilege to get to know you, and to see the incredible work you do.

Thank you.

You have our deepest respect, and our gratitude.

Over the years there has been much debate about what prison is primarily for – be it punishment, public protection or deterrence.

Of course, it’s all of these things.

It’s right that dangerous people are taken off our streets – and that people who destroy lives and wreck our communities face the consequences.

But if we cut to the core of it, prison should also be about reducing offending. That’s the only way we are genuinely going to protect the public.

I say ‘should’, here, because it’s something we haven’t always been very good at in this country. I know you’d agree.

Serious criminals should see the inside of a jail cell – and the most dangerous should stay there.

But what happens next to the many offenders who will someday be let out really matters.

For the vast majority of offenders, being locked up is a fork in the road.

One way on that road can lead them to turn their lives around…

The other will take them straight back to prison.

Too often, it’s the latter. And I’ve no doubt how deeply frustrating it must be for you to see the same faces at your gates again and again.

The numbers are clear – 80 percent of offending in this country is reoffending. That is too high by any measure.

But I know just how determined you are to turn that around.

We all know what the answers are. I know that you know what needs to be done. My job is to help you realise those ambitions.

Having worked in the family business since I was 14, I hope I’ve learnt a few things about leadership and responsibility along the way. There are plenty of philosophies out there.

I found that a strong culture and high standards – rooted in trust, and kindness – was what worked for us.

And I firmly believe that strong leaders – you – are the single most important element in a good prison.

You set the culture…

You set those high standards for your teams to follow, and for the prisoners you rehabilitate.

And I can’t stress enough how important high standards are in our prisons.

Put it this way – I’ve never known a great organisation to have poor standards.

That starts with the basics – a clean, tidy, environment, where prisoners and staff respect the rules.

When I was a CEO, I’d check the Timpson head office car park for weeds and litter…

Small things, I know. But they really matter…

Those first impressions for people arriving really matter…

And as leaders, it’s our job to lead by example.

And in over 20 years of being involved with prisons, I can’t think of a time when your job has been tougher.

For too long, you’ve been doing your best in very challenging circumstances.

People don’t turn up to work to get beaten up, they turn up to inspire people, and to and turn lives around.

Yet our crammed prisons are breeding violence – which threatens everyone’s safety, staff and prisoners alike…

Staff shortages – and a lack of experienced staff – stretch your ability to run the kind of regimes you want to run.

While so many of your prisons are dilapidated, in desperate need of repair…

I’m grateful to Charlie Taylor – who is up next – for HMIP’s unflinching focus on these issues.

And I know it hasn’t been easy, trying to rehabilitate offenders in a system teetering on the edge of disaster.

A system that, when we came into government, had been run at 99 percent capacity for months.

I should emphasise – none of this is your doing – in fact, the PGA has been sounding the alarm loud and clear.

That’s why we had to take the tough decision to bring in changes to automatic release to ease the pressure on our prisons.

It was, quite literally, a rescue effort.

If we hadn’t acted, the justice system would have ground to a halt:

Courts would have been unable to hold trials and police unable to make arrests.

We would have faced the total breakdown of law and order.

We only have to look at the recent disorder on our streets to see how close to catastrophe we came…

Because we could deliver justice swiftly, we brought the violence to an end.

But, in the process, we came dangerously close to running out of prison space entirely.

We had no choice but to introduce emergency measures in the first few days of this new Government.

It was only thanks to the heroic efforts of prison and probation staff, that we pulled through.

We didn’t want to do this. But we were left with no choice…

To attempt to delay any further, would have allowed our justice system to collapse.

We could never have allowed that:

This Government will always put the safety of the public – first.

Throughout all of this you have been under immense pressure.

Offender management units, in particular, have borne the brunt of several emergency measures…

While more broadly the estate has coped with higher numbers of late arrivals and redirections.

It’s in times like these that strong leadership matters most. We couldn’t have managed this crisis without you.

And while there is still work to be done ahead of the next releases later this month, I want to thank you, again, for everything you’ve done to get us to this point.

So, our changes have bought us some time. Time for the system to catch its breath.

But these challenges haven’t just disappeared, and the crisis isn’t over.

If things don’t change, we’ll end up in the same position all over again… Sooner than we care to mention.

I want us to get a point where you can run your prisons how you want to run them…

That is why the Justice Secretary has been clear that getting prisons built is a priority for her.

That is why we will take control of the planning process, and deem prison development of national importance.

And we also need decent regimes, that help offenders turn their backs on crime for good.

I know there is brilliant, innovative work going on, and I want to encourage more of it.

But innovating is difficult – impossible, even – when you’re so full that you can’t let prisoners out of their cells.

That’s why it is essential we resolve this capacity crisis…

So we can support and empower you to go even further to reduce reoffending.

And, if we create the right conditions for you to do your jobs as you’d want to do them – I hope to see more of you staying in post for longer, too.

Stability at the top is crucial.

Because our prisons are on a journey, and there’s a long road ahead.

Culture change doesn’t happen overnight.

In my experience, it can take anywhere from three to five years to really move an organisation on.

Much of our success will be down to you, our prison leaders.

So I want to see more of you staying on that road for longer – and I want you to tell me how we can support you to do that.

Great prisons need great leaders. But second, they need hardworking dedicated staff, like the officers in your teams.

Fundamentally, prisons are a people business – like any company.

As a CEO, I found that the happier people are in their jobs, the better they work. If they feel valued, trusted and cared for, they are going to perform well for you.

And in your teams, people are working under such intense pressure day in, day out.

The relationships – between you, and your staff… and your staff and your prisoners – go right to the core of safe, decent prisons.

If we invest in officer training – in their well-being, and development – we empower them to do much more than simply maintain order.

We empower them to become agents of change – to help people turn their lives around.

I’ve met plenty of men and women who say that a prison officer transformed their life.

Officers who took the time to mentor them – who really got to know the people on their wing.

Who knew if their mum wasn’t well, or when their kids were starting school.

But to be a prison officer requires a unique set of skills – quite unlike any other job.

That ‘jailcraft’ equips officers for the challenges they will face every day. It takes time, and continual learning.

Before joining the Government, I had the privilege of leading a review of prison officer training – speaking to hundreds of officers across the estate.

It’s clear we have some decent foundations – but we can do so much more.

I want to see more in-depth training that fully prepares officers for the realities of the role, right from the start.

Greater consistency – with a strong curriculum and clear standards…

More local ownership of training…

Clear channels of accountability…

And a culture of ongoing learning throughout an officer’s career…

One that rightly builds pride in this absolutely critical role.

I want to push forward with these changes, and I’ll say more about this as soon as I can.

The third element of a good prison is, of course, purposeful activity.

Prison education and training has a huge influence on the path offenders choose to take.

It’s crucial that we get this right if we are to release better citizens, not better criminals.

Yet I’ve seen people leave prison not even knowing how to use a computer.

When we spend so much of our lives – and jobs – online, how are they supposed to get on in the modern world?

That’s just one example. There are many others.

But the point is clear: when you don’t have the right skills to get a job, slipping back into old habits is all too easy.

And the lure of easy cash might feel like the only way to put money in your pocket.

So, it might not come as a surprise that I’m passionate about prison education and training.

Training that opens doors – that gives prisoners pride – and real skills that today’s employers want.

I’m clear that prison is a punishment. But that’s no reason to stop the one in four working-age people in the UK who have criminal records from getting jobs.

We know that prison leavers are less likely to reoffend if they have a job within a year of release.

So, getting them into work doesn’t just cut crime, it boosts our economy too.

That’s a win-win we can’t ignore.

But for many, the process of applying for jobs can be daunting.

That’s why I’m pleased to see a new partnership – between the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Trust and the New Futures Network.

It will embed HR professionals in EABs…

Ensure that prison leavers can access HR advice to support them into work…

Provide mentoring for Prison Employment Leads…

And help us to create even closer links between prisons and local employers.

And, I can testify, former prisoners make great colleagues.

In my experience, they work hard, they turn up on time, and they are trustworthy – because they are so hungry to prove themselves.

The amount they can achieve – starting from rock bottom – is nothing short of extraordinary.

It’s no exaggeration to say that some of the most accomplished people I know were once in prison.

They want to grasp that second chance with both hands.

Together – let’s make sure they get it.

Our fourth route to reducing reoffending is by tackling the scourge of drugs in our prisons.

As you know so well, drugs undermine rehabilitation, fuel violence, debt, and are a sure path back into crime.

Nearly half of prisoners have a history of drug misuse.

Many will have addictions when they turn up at your gates, but too many who were clean on the outside are drawn into drugs on the inside.

That flies in the face of what we want our prisons to achieve.

The answer is clear.

First, we need to stop drugs getting into prison. We can hardly expect prisoners to kick the habit if our jails are a sweetshop for drugs.

We know what you are up against. Not least the growing use of drones to smuggle drugs – and the phones that power the illicit market – over your walls…

And the increasing threat of synthetic opioids…

We have to adapt rapidly if we are to protect our staff and prisoners.

Second, we need prisons to drive demand for drugs down, not up.

Purposeful activity is so important here. If prisoners have meaningful ways to spend their time, they’re less likely to turn to drugs through boredom, or distress.

Staff training is crucial too. Your teams have to understand drugs, and addiction, so they can make sure prisoners get the right support, and are helped to recover.

Third, prisoners with an addiction need treatment.

There is good evidence to show this reduces reoffending – but we also need to make sure they stay in treatment after release. That groundwork starts in prison.

And fourth – where it’s safe and appropriate – we should be driving more people with a drug problem away from prison and into treatment.

That could include greater use of drug and alcohol treatment requirements attached to community sentences, for example.

There are no easy solutions, but I want to work with you to create a system where people leave custody prepared to lead productive, drug-free lives.

I know there is innovative work going on out there – and I want to explore how we can replicate that work elsewhere.

As I come to a close, let me say again – this is the beginning of a new journey for our prisons.

This Government will rebuild and reform the system.

We’ll accelerate the prison building programme, to make sure we have the cells we need.

We’ll soon publish our ten-year capacity strategy, setting out how we will acquire new land for prisons, and reform the planning process.

And, as you’re aware, we will carry out a review of sentencing – with a focus on how it both protects the public and reduces reoffending.

We’ll soon be in a position to share the terms of reference of that independent review and announce its chair – and I know the PGA will play its full part once it is underway.

As I’ve said, change takes time. It also takes stamina. The last Government hardly led by example – 14 Prison Ministers in as many years isn’t a record to be proud of.

So I can assure you – it’s very much my intention to stay the course.

I want you to judge me on my actions. When I’m back here next year, and the year after that, let’s see where we’ve got to.

I’m fortunate to have started this job with a good working knowledge of prisons, but it’s been humbling to visit some of you recently, and be reminded of the complex and challenging work you do every day.

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to talk to me so far –

Aled at Holme House…

Pete at Five Wells…

Amy at Downview…

Andy at Wandsworth…

Emily at High Down…

Dan at Preston…

And many, many more…

I should say that getting out into the estate is another of my top priorities…

So you can tell me straight – what’s really going on in the system, what you’re up against, and how, together, we can make it better.

I hear the last Minister to go to Isle of Wight prison was Ann Widdecombe. So, Dougie, you’ve been forewarned. I’ll be coming down!

Let me finish by saying thank you, again…

To you, to your teams, and every single person who keeps the system running – the teachers, nurses, psychologists, and non-operational staff.

As leaders, your role goes far beyond managing institutions.

You are protecting communities…

You are shaping lives…

And ultimately, you are strengthening our society.

Thank you.

November 2, 2024
Yvette Cooper – 2024 Speech at Labour Party Conference

The speech made by Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, on 24 September 2024.

Pooja, thank you. Thank you for your words. Thank you for your courage.

It is just two years since Ronan was killed, but Pooja has not stopped fighting for him since.

Fighting for Ronan. Fighting for other children, for other mums and dads.

Because no parent should have to go through this unimaginable pain.

So Pooja, we salute you, we support you, and now we are in government we will back you in your fight to save young lives.

Ronan’s teenage killers ordered the ninja sword online.

No checks. No questions asked.

Lethal weapons put straight in the hands of children.

So this Labour Government will bring in new laws to crackdown on dangerous online sales and the gangs who draw children in, alongside new youth hubs to steer young people away from violence – a teenage Sure Start to build hope in the future.

And we will make it a mission for our whole country to halve knife crime in a decade.

And yes, this Labour Government will pass Ronan’s law – a ban on ninja swords.

This Labour Government will.

It’s fifteen years since I’ve been able to say those words at a Labour Party conference.

All those years we said things but couldn’t do them.

So don’t let anyone tell you politics doesn’t matter.

Because six months ago, our party tried to ban ninja swords, but we didn’t have enough MPs to win that vote.

Because of the election – because of the change you campaigned for – now we do.

Ten years ago, I called for buffer zones around abortion clinics, but we weren’t in government. We couldn’t make it happen. Now we can and yes we have.

Because no woman should be harassed on the way to a healthcare appointment that is her legal right.

It can be hard to trust in change when things have felt so tough for so long.

And a year ago at this conference, I warned about the depth of the damage the Tories had done in 14 years.

How they’d taken a wrecking ball to the criminal justice system so criminals laugh at the law.

How they left communities to fracture so criminals and extremists step in.

Conference, eight weeks ago, when the unbearable news broke about a horrendous attack in Southport on little children at a summer dance club, from all across the country our hearts went out to the loved ones of little Alice, Bebe and Elsie. And that’s where all of our thoughts should have stayed.

The following day I met the police officers, paramedics and firefighters who were first on the scene that day, and whose bravery in the face of such trauma saved many young lives.

But within hours the same Southport police were under attack, facing missiles, bottles, and bricks.

The most shocking, violent insult to a grieving community and the police officers protecting them.

A total, total disgrace.

In copycat violence over the following days, stirred up from a safe distance by the grifters and the agitators online, we saw looting of shops, attacks on mosques, a Citizens Advice bureau torched, an asylum hotel set alight, and people targeted on the streets of Britain because of the colour of their skin.

And here in Liverpool, on County Road, the burning of Spellow Library.

A place where children go to read left in ashes.

And I spoke to some of those children who live around the library in Walton.

One told me how scared she was that night, how her mum switched off all the lights in the house, and told her to stay quiet and sit on the stairs as bins were set alight along her street.

Don’t anyone tell me that was protest.

Don’t tell me that was about immigration, or policing, or poverty.

Plenty of people have strong views on immigration, on crime, on the NHS and more, but they don’t pick up bricks and throw them at the police.

They don’t set light to buildings with people inside.

It was arson.

It was racism.

It was thuggery.

It was crime.

And, you know, it happened because criminals thought they would get away with it.

They saw the cracks in the system, the impunity that built up through the Tory years.

And when they decided to run riot those early August days, they thought no one would stop them.

They were wrong.

With Keir Starmer’s leadership, this Labour Government made clear that we would back our police, not blame them.

We would stand up for our courts, not undermine them.

We would pull our communities together, not divide them.

We stood up for the rule of law, decent people stood up for their communities, and, together, we put the disorder down.

But I’ll be honest I’ve been shocked by the response from some of those in political parties on the right who once claimed to care about law and order.

After rioters attacked the police, they should have given full-throated backing to our brave officers.

Instead, too often we’ve seen them undermine the integrity and authority of the police, even making excuses for the mob.

If you remember, back in the run up to Armistice Day last year, disgraceful slurs made against the police which made it harder for them to do their job were treated as a sacking offence for a Tory Home Secretary.

A year on, those same slurs have become an article of faith for every Tory leadership contender.

It is shameful what that party has become.

The Tories, with their mates in Reform, are just becoming right wing wreckers.

Undermining respect for the law, trying to fracture the very bonds that keep communities safe.

They have nothing to offer but fear, division and anger.

But that’s not who we are.

That’s not what Britain is about.

Our country has always championed respect and the rule of law.

That’s what this Labour Party will always stand up for – the party of law and order, now a Government of law and order once more.

And nor will we let disorder and violence silence a serious debate on immigration.

Something that has been missing for too long amidst the chaos, the gimmicks and the damaging, ramped up rhetoric.

A serious government sees that net migration has trebled because overseas recruitment has soared while training has been cut right back, and says net migration must come down as we properly train young people here in the UK.

A serious government sees an asylum system in chaos and say we have to clear the backlog and end asylum hotels.

And a serious government looks at the criminal gangs who are profitting from undermining our border security while women and children are crushed to death in crowded, flimsy small boats and says they’ve got away with it for too long – we will not stand for this vile trade in human lives.

A serious government knows that immigration is important, and that is why it needs to be properly managed and controlled so the system is fair – so rules are properly respected and enforced but we never again see a shameful repeat of the Windrush scandal that let British citizens down.

So in three months, we’ve set up the Border Security Command, launched new investment in covert operations, high tech investigations to go after the gangs, with proper enforcement and returns.

And instead of spending £700 million and employing 1000 people to send four volunteers to Rwanda, we are boosting our border security instead.

Because the best way to do that is to work with countries on the other side of our borders, not to just stand on the shoreline shouting at the sea.

So from our border security to our national security – combatting changing terror, state and cyber threats – to the security and safety of our local streets, we know that security is the bedrock on which communities can come together, and on which all the opportunities Labour has always fought for are built.

You don’t get social justice if you don’t have justice.

And respect is the very foundation of our democracy.

And those Labour values are at the heart of all we do.

And they are at the heart of our mission for safer streets.

Where across the country where for too long rising town centre and street crime have been driving people away from our high streets, corroding the fabric of our communities.

So this Labour Government will bring in new powers on antisocial behaviour, shoplifting and off-road bikes and we will put neighbourhood police back in our communities and back on the beat.

And yes, after years of Co-op and USDAW campaigning, this Labour Government will introduce a new law on assaults on shopworkers, because everyone has the right to work in freedom from fear.

And you know Conference, it is long overdue.

At long last this government will treat violence against women and girls as the national emergency it really is.

When Raneem Oudeh called the police four times the night she was killed, no one came.

So in Raneem’s name, this Labour Government will put domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms.

Overhaul protection orders and go after dangerous perpetrators who put lives at risk.

New laws on spiking and online image abuse.

A radical, ambitious Labour mission – for the whole of Government, for the whole country – to halve violence against women and girls in a decade.

Because we cannot, and we will not, let the next generation of women and girls face the same violence as the last. Our daughters deserve better than this.

And why do we do all this?

For the same reason that communities came together here in Liverpool and across the country to clear up the damage that rioters had done.

To rebuild the broken mosque wall in Southport.

To find a new Citizens Advice centre in Sunderland.

To clean up the streets.

Because the simple belief that we all share is this: our streets do not belong to the gangs, yobs, and thieves. Our streets do not belong to the racists, extremists and thugs. And our streets will never belong to the stalkers, abusers or rapists.

These streets belong to us all. And it is time to take them back.

So Conference, of course the work is hard.

As a poet once said, ‘our sleeves will grow ragged from rolling them up’.

But if you need hope that together we can deliver, just look down the road again at Spellow Library.

After the fire, a young Mum from Netherton, here with us this morning, Alex McCormick, started a fundraiser.

Donations have poured in from all over the world, thousands of books, hundreds of thousands of pounds.

And already the Labour Council, Mayor and community are restoring and rebuilding Spellow Library, better than ever before.

So when Alex said: “Let’s show the world what community in Liverpool really means”.

She did her city proud, and she did our country proud.

Up from the ashes, a symbol of hope.

A model of what our country can do.

So leave the politics of fear, division and decline to others.

The politics of hope is ours.

The future belongs to us all.

Let change begin.

Thank you Conference.

September 26, 2024
Diana Johnson – 2024 Speech at the Police Superintendents’ Conference

The speech made by Diana Johnson, the Crime and Policing Minister, in Kenilworth on 10 September 2024.

Hello everyone and thank you for having me.

Given this is my first time addressing your conference, I’m tempted to ask you to take that into account, particularly in the Q+A.

But having spent much of my time before the election asking uncomfortable questions as chair of the Commons Home Affairs Committee, including to ministers and policing leaders, I guess I need to get used to the roles being reversed.

But – seriously speaking – my time in that role gave me a window into your world. The engagement we had with police bodies, including the PSA, helped to strengthen my understanding of the realities and challenges of policing today.

And one thing I also just wanted to let you know was that I’ve been an MP for 19 years, and one of the very best things I have ever done as a member of parliament was the Police Parliamentary scheme, where I got the opportunity to spend 24 days with my local police force, Humberside, and it gave me a real opportunity to see what was happening on a kind of day-to-day basis for police officers. And I remember doing the kind of early morning shift, and I did nights, and I went out on public order, and I went out with the dogs, and it was just fascinating. So, I’m really pleased I did that, and I have that experience now I’m a Police Minister. So I want to say as well, as the Home Secretary just did, I want to say a heartfelt thank you to all of you.

From the most routine acts of policing to national-scale operations and painstaking investigations, you make an immeasurable contribution to our society.

And I do also want to say a few words about the summer disorder. And as you know, it has been an incredibly busy few weeks for this government, since the general election, and the events of the summer have left us all, I think, with much to reflect upon.

The attack in Southport rocked that community to its core and the impact was felt around the country.

For three little girls to lose their lives is just unspeakably horrific, and my thoughts are of course with their loved ones. I cannot begin to imagine the anguish they are going through.

I want to take the opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to every officer involved in responding to that terrible incident. They showed tremendous courage in the most difficult of circumstances, and their actions saved lives.

We all know what came next; at a time when we should have been focused only on supporting those affected by the attack in Southport, and allowing the urgent police investigation to get under way, we instead found ourselves responding to an outbreak of widespread violent disorder.

The various incidents around the country have been catalogued in extensive detail so I will not get into a new blow-by-blow account.

I will simply say that the hijacking of those poor families’ grief at that time was utterly shameful…

…as was the violence directed towards police officers working to maintain order and protect the community.

The immediate priority was to get back control of the streets and restore order.

That’s why the Prime Minister and Home Secretary made clear from the beginning that you had our unqualified support in taking all necessary action to quell the disorder.

And we sent the message loud and clear that anyone involved in criminality should expect to be caught and face the consequences of their actions.

The swiftness of the response by policing and the wider criminal justice system was fundamental to getting the situation under control and restoring order.

As part of the national mobilisation plan coordinated by NPoCC, more than 40,000 officer shifts were worked by public order officers over that 10-day period, with over 6,600 public order officers deployed on one day alone. Rest days, as you know, were cancelled and additional hours were worked.

The fact that arrests were being made within hours and convicted offenders behind bars facing prison time within days not only showed we were serious when we said there would be a price to pay for criminality on our streets, but it also demonstrated to the law-abiding public that this behaviour will not be tolerated.

So, I want to echo the Home Secretary’s words of enormous thanks to everyone across policing for your tireless efforts during what was an exceptionally difficult period.

But I also want to say this: I’m appalled that new figures revealed today show that assaults on our women and men in uniform are still far too high.

Even preceding the violent disorder of this summer – assaults on police officers are up, with a quarter of those incidents resulting in injury.

The Home Secretary was right to call this a ‘stain on our society’ and to say that it will not be tolerated.

So, we recognise your service and your sacrifice.

Whether it’s responding to violent disorder, running towards danger, attending emergencies or investigating serious crimes, we know that the heroic daily work of the police exerts a huge strain on officers and their families.

That’s why we will always support you, as you support your teams to serve our communities.

It’s why we support the Police Covenant and why we are determined to work with you to ensure it delivers for all officers, staff and volunteers, recognising that wellbeing and mental health support is vital in maintaining a healthy and engaged police workforce who can effectively serve and protect the public.

Turning now to the safer streets mission, which the Home Secretary referred to, I think it’s clear that those unacceptable attacks on the police speak directly to this Government’s wider Safer Streets mission.

And that is to restore respect for the rule of law on British streets, including restoring respect for the police, which has sadly been eroded over many years.

To do that, we will ensure that you have everything you need to get back to tackling the issues that matter most to the public.

Too many town centres and high streets across the country have been gripped by an epidemic of anti-social behaviour, theft and shoplifting, which is corroding our communities and cannot be allowed to continue.

There are thousands of incredible police officers and support staff doing an admirable job. But we do have to face the reality that there are still too many victims of anti-social behaviour who feel that when they call the police, no one listens, no one comes and nothing is done.

Our neighbourhoods and police forces have suffered enough after a decade of decline, and this government will help restore neighbourhood policing, with skilled, resilient and dedicated local cops.

We must rebuild these bonds of trust and respect between the police and local communities that have always been so central to our proud British tradition of policing by consent.

That’s why we will implement a new Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, restoring patrols to town centres, recruiting thousands of additional police personnel, and ensuring every community has a named local police officer to turn to.

And as part of that plan, I can announce today that the government has agreed initial funding to support the College of Policing in rolling out a specialist new training programme for neighbourhood officers.

The Neighbourhood Policing Programme Career Pathway will focus on anti-social behaviour, community engagement and problem solving and equip neighbourhood officers with the skills, knowledge and confidence they need to build local relationships and to tackle the issues that damage communities the most.

Every community deserves local officers who understand what is needed to keep them safe, and with this new training and our Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, we will deliver the change our towns and villages are desperate for.

Supers are the operational leaders, you know what is going on in forces day to day, and we want to tap into your insight and expertise as we restore neighbourhood policing and crack down on corrosive crimes like anti-social behaviour and shoplifting, which will help to restore public confidence that there will be consequences for criminality in their communities.

But to deliver on the promise of change we have made to the British people, we also need to crack down on the serious crimes that devastate lives and communities across the country.

That is why we are acting to address the deadly cycle of knife crime by getting more dangerous weapons off our streets and preventing young people from being drawn into violent crime in the first place, with a radical new Young Futures prevention programme and early intervention for those at-risk.

And it is why we have set out an unprecedented mission to halve violence against women and girls over the next decade, working right across government, as well as with the police and the criminal justice system, on everything from prevention work in schools, to pursuing dangerous perpetrators and to getting survivors the support and the justice they need.

Underpinning all of this is an unwavering commitment to protecting our national security, and those working to counter threats from terrorism, hostile states or any other source, and they have our full and enduring support.

Law enforcement has an instrumental role in delivering this ambitious mission. So as with neighbourhood policing, we will be looking to you and your teams to work with us so we can deliver real and lasting improvements for the public.

As the Home Secretary has said to many policing colleagues since the election – we will not be politicians who just shout from the sidelines. We will work in lockstep with you to deliver change – championing your successes, recognising your sacrifices and, yes, of course, holding you to account and asking difficult questions along the way to ensure that progress is being made in every corner of the country.

Because for this mission to be successful, it will be critical to secure and maintain the confidence of the people you serve.

The vast, vast majority of officers I know are decent, hardworking and professional. When standards are not met or powers are abused, I know that you all feel it deeply and it undermines your excellent work.

That is why, together, we have to ensure behaviour and cultures are beyond reproach, right across the system.

In charting a new path, I know that none of this is easy. There are deep-rooted issues that need to be reckoned with.

One thing we know for sure is that none of our goals will be achieved unless there is close alignment between government and policing.

But with the Home Secretary’s knowledge and leadership, I wholeheartedly believe we can chart a new, successful way forward.

And I know this because I have seen first-hand how dedicated the Home Secretary is to supporting each and every member of the policing family.

I know how keenly she feels her responsibility to ensure you have the powers and tools to fulfil your critical functions.

And I can assure you that when she says she wants to work with you to get British policing performance at its very best, she means it.

As superintendents and chief superintendents, but also as police leaders, you have an important and rightful role to play in helping us deliver safer communities.

You have a wealth of knowledge, insight and expertise that we absolutely want to tap into to help us deliver on our mission.

Whether that’s about the threats you and your teams are tackling day in and day out, or about more strategic policing issues, we want to and we need to hear from you in shaping our approach.

In conclusion, again I want to offer my thanks again to the PSA for all the work they do and for giving me the opportunity to address you today.

As Policing Minister, I intend to be your voice within government.

And I do want to champion your successes, understand your needs and support your teams.

As the Prime Minister and Home Secretary have made clear, we are serious. We are very serious about tackling crime, rebuilding confidence and putting neighbourhood policing back at the heart of our communities.

You and your colleagues will all have an integral part and role to play in that mission.

And I know it’s not going to be delivered overnight.

I’m conscious – I think I’ve been post about 11 weeks, so I know that you know this is going to take some time,

But what I have seen in my short time in my role has given me a renewed confidence that we will succeed.

The dedication, the skill, the bravery, the willingness to make sacrifices…these are the core elements of British policing at its best and they have been on display in abundance over recent weeks.

I will finish by saying how grateful I am to everyone across the service, and I very much look forward to working with you all as we strive to protect the public and make our country safer.

Thank you very much for your time.

September 13, 2024
James Cleverly – 2024 Speech on Border Security and Asylum

The speech made by James Cleverley, the Shadow Home Security, in the House of Commons on 22 July 2024.

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I welcome you back to your place, on my first opportunity to do so. In my time as Home Secretary and, before that, Foreign Secretary, you were very kind about my minor indiscretions at the Dispatch Box, my late deployment of statements and my slight overruns. You have always been very kind to my family in sometimes quite trying circumstances, which I very much appreciate.

I also take this opportunity to congratulate the right hon. Member for Pontefract, Castleford and Knottingley (Yvette Cooper) on her appointment as Home Secretary. It is a challenging but incredibly rewarding job and, because the nation’s security is now very much in her and her Ministers’ hands, I genuinely wish her all success in everything she is looking to do.

The right hon. Lady inherits a dedicated team of Home Office civil servants who will help her to keep the country safe and secure. They helped me when I was in her position and, although it is disorderly to recognise their presence, if I were to wave my hand vaguely in their direction, I might take the opportunity to thank my previous private office civil servants.

My notes say that I want to thank the Home Secretary and her team for advance sight of her statement, but I will put a line through that.

The Labour party, and indeed the Home Secretary, likes to talk tough on border security, but today’s statement, despite all the hyperbole and the made-up numbers, is basically an admission of what we knew all along, which is that the Labour party has scrapped the Rwanda partnership on ideological grounds, removing a deterrent that the National Crime Agency said we needed.

The level of discourtesy directed towards the people and Government of Rwanda is quite breathtaking. To have them read about this decision in the papers before anyone from the UK Government had the good grace to formally notify them is an error, and no one in this House believes for a moment that this level of discourtesy would have happened had the partnership been with a European country.

Labour has given an effective amnesty to thousands of asylum seekers who were banned under Conservative plans. Labour’s plans amount to doing less than the Conservatives were doing when we were in government, merely changing the signs above a few desks in the Home Office with its so-called border security command and returns unit. Before the election, the right hon. Lady said that she would create a returns unit, and now the narrative is that she will redeploy some staff—not increase the number of staff, but redeploy some staff—which shows that the returns function already exists.

There is no safe third country to which to return people who cannot be returned home, so where will the right hon. Lady send people who come here from countries like Afghanistan, Iran and Syria? Has she started negotiating returns agreements with the Taliban, the ayatollahs of Iran or Assad in Syria? If she is not going to send to Rwanda anyone who arrives here on a small boat, to which local authorities will she send them? We were closing hotels when I was in government, so I wonder which local authorities will receive those asylum seekers. If not Rwanda, will it be Rochdale, Romford or Richmond? Most importantly, can the right hon. Lady now confirm that people who arrive here illegally in a small boat will be able to claim asylum? Finally, how long after the right hon. Lady briefed the media that she is scrapping the Rwanda partnership did she have the courtesy to speak directly with the Rwandan Government?

It is because we now have no deterrent that nobody wants to head her new so-called border security command. Neil Basu, a former senior police officer for whom I have huge respect, was Labour’s No. 1 choice, and he has ruled himself out. We now learn that General Stuart Skeates, a highly respected former general in the British Army, who was, in large part, responsible for delivering the Albania deal, which cut small boat arrivals from that country by 90%, has resigned from his position as director general for strategic operations. To misquote Oscar Wilde, “to lose one border commander could be seen as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness”—perhaps even incompetence. I notice that the new job advert—it is available online for those who are thinking of applying—for Labour’s border security command says that the role is not located in Kent, where the channel is, but is flexible from Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Durham, Glasgow, Liverpool or Manchester, none of which, the last time I checked, are anywhere near the English channel.

The reality is that everybody knows, including the people smugglers, that the small boat problem is going to get worse—indeed, has already got worse under Labour—because there is no deterrent. People are being sold a lie when they are being smuggled into this country, across one of the busiest shipping lanes. We need to stop them. Too many lives have already been lost. Sadly, six more have been lost in the channel in the last few weeks, and our hearts go out to them and their loved ones. We disagree on many things, but we can agree that we need to put an end to this evil trade. Sadly, the initial decisions made by her Government have made the problem worse, not better.

Yvette Cooper

I welcome the shadow Home Secretary’s words about the dedication of Home Office officials and about the importance of work on national security. As he knows, when I was shadow Secretary of State, I always worked with him and supported him around national security issues. I know he will do the same and I welcome him to his shadow post. I presume what we heard was the first of the Conservative leadership contest speeches.

I will respond to some of the things the shadow Home Secretary said. We need to be clear about what we have inherited from him and his party. Under his party, we have had the highest level of spring crossings ever. Gangs have been left to wreak havoc, not just along the French coast but across our border, through our country and back through Europe. Asylum support costs are set to rise to £30 billion to £40 billion over the next four years as a result of his and his party’s decisions.

As for the idea of deterrence, I am sorry but four volunteers being sent to Rwanda is not a deterrent to anyone for anything at all. The idea that he would spend £10 billion on this fantasy, this fiction, this gimmick rather than ever do the hard graft—£700 million has already been spent on sending just four volunteers in two and a half years. We have often warned that, frankly, it would be cheaper to put them up in the Paris Ritz. As it turns out, it would have been cheaper to buy the Paris Ritz.

As for the amnesty, I do not know if the right hon. Gentleman has ever understood the Illegal Migration Act 2023, which he voted for and he inherited from his predecessors. He asks if people who arrive illegally can claim asylum—that is exactly what happens under section 9 of that Act. They can all claim asylum, enter the asylum system and be entitled to asylum support. That is what happens in the system, which we have inherited, that he has presided over and run since he became Home Secretary. The problem is that people enter the asylum system but never leave. He did not bring in operational arrangements to try to take decisions properly. His Home Office effectively stopped taking the majority of asylum decisions in May. Perhaps he did not know that, but that is what happened in his Home Office. This party and this Government do not believe in amnesties. We think that the rules need to be respected and enforced. His party is the one that has given an effective amnesty to people who can end up staying in the asylum system forever. We believe that the rules should be enforced. The problem is that that is what the shadow Home Secretary believes too. He does not believe any of the stuff that he has just said. He is only saying it for his Tory leadership contest; he is just too weak to tell his party the truth. He thought that the whole policy on Rwanda was “batshit” and then he went out to bat for it. It is just not serious.

August 9, 2024
Yvette Cooper – 2024 Statement on Border Security and Asylum

The statement made by Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, in the House of Commons on 22 July 2024.

May I thank you, Mr Speaker, for standing up for the Opposition Front Benchers, as I know you have often done for me in the past? I apologise to the shadow Home Secretary for the delay in the arrival of the statement.

Most people in the United Kingdom want to see strong border security, with a properly controlled and managed asylum system where our country does its bit, alongside others, to help those who have fled persecution, but where rules are properly respected and enforced so that those with no right to be here are swiftly removed. At the moment, we have none of those things. Border security is being undermined by criminal smuggler gangs, and the asylum system is in chaos. Tragically, 19 lives have been lost in the channel so far this year, including children. No one should be making these perilous small boat journeys.

Criminal gangs have been allowed to take hold along our border, and they are making huge profit from undermining our border security and putting lives at risk. They should not be able to get away with it. Crossings in the first half of 2024 are up by 10% on last year—the number is going up, instead of coming down. At the same time, the asylum backlog is getting worse, as decision making in the Home Office has dropped. Home Office spending on asylum support has increased sevenfold in the space of just three years. This cannot go on. Since my appointment two weeks ago, I have reviewed the policies, programmes and legislation that we have inherited from our predecessors, and I have been shocked by what I have found. Not only are there already serious problems; on current policies, the chaos and costs are likely to get worse.

On our border security, it is clear that the security and enforcement arrangements we have inherited are too weak. Criminal gang networks are operating with impunity along our border, across the continent and beyond, and across the UK too. Action between Britain and France in the channel has improved, and is preventing some boat crossings. The work of the small boats operational command in the channel is important and will continue, but we need to go much further. We should be taking far more action upstream, long before the boats ever reach the French coast. Co-operation with Europol and other European police forces and prosecutors is far too limited, and enforcement against exploitation and trafficking in the UK is far too weak. Information sharing with our European neighbours has reduced, rather than increased. As a result of these weak arrangements, I am extremely concerned that the high levels of dangerous crossings that we have inherited are likely to persist throughout the summer.

Let me turn to the Rwanda migration and economic development partnership. Two and a half years after the previous Government launched it, I can report that it has already cost the British taxpayer £700 million—in order to send just four volunteers. That includes £290 million on payments to Rwanda and the costs of chartering flights that never took off, detaining hundreds of people and then releasing them, and paying for more than 1,000 civil servants to work on the scheme—for a scheme to send four people. It is the most shocking waste of taxpayers’ money I have ever seen.

Looking forward, the costs are set to get worse. Even if the scheme had ever got going, it is clear that it would have covered only a minority of arrivals, yet a substantial portion of future costs were fixed costs—for example, the annual direct payments to Rwanda, the contracts for escorts, the staffing in the Home Office, the detention and reception centres, and more. The taxpayer would have still had to pay out, no matter how few people were relocated. Most shockingly of all, over the six years of the migration and economic development partnership forecast, the previous Government had planned to spend over £10 billion of taxpayers’ money on the scheme. They did not tell Parliament that. I thank the Rwandan Government for working with the UK in good faith, because the failure of this policy lies with the previous UK Government. It has been a costly con, and the taxpayer has had to pay the price.

I turn to the Illegal Migration Act 2023, which has been in place for a year. We were told that it would stop the boats, but it has clearly failed. The legal contradictions in the Act are so great that they make it unworkable; indeed, 12 months on, the central duty has not even been enacted. It is also costing the taxpayer billions of pounds. Under section 9 of the Act, people who arrive in the UK can claim asylum and get asylum accommodation. However, under section 30, if they arrived after March 2023 and meet key conditions in the Act, no decision can be taken on their case; they just stay in the asylum system. Even if they have come here unlawfully for economic reasons and should be returned to their home country, they will not be, because the law does not work. Only a small minority might ever have been sent to Rwanda; everyone else stays indefinitely in taxpayer-funded accommodation and support.

The Home Office estimates that around 40% of asylum cases since March 2023 should be covered by those Illegal Migration Act conditions. The remaining 60%, under the previous Government’s policy, should still have been processed and cleared in the normal way. However, even though previous Ministers introduced this new law 12 months ago, they did not ever introduce an effective operational way for the Home Office to distinguish between the cases covered by the Illegal Migration Act and the other cases where decisions should continue—that is, between the 40% and the 60%. As a result, decisions cannot be taken on any of them.

I have been shocked to discover that the Home Office has effectively stopped making the majority of asylum decisions. Thousands of asylum caseworkers cannot do their proper job. As a result, the backlog of asylum cases is now going up. This is the most extraordinary policy I have ever seen. We have inherited asylum “Hotel California”—people arrive in the asylum system and they never leave. The previous Government’s policy was effectively an amnesty, and that is the wrong thing to do. It is not just bad policy, it is also completely unaffordable. The cost of this indefinitely rising asylum backlog in hotel and accommodation support bills is astronomical. The potential costs of asylum support over the next four years if we continue down this track could be an eye-watering £30 billion to £40 billion. That is double the annual police budget for England and Wales.

This newly elected Government are not prepared to let this chaos continue, so let me turn to the action we are urgently taking to restore some grip to the system, to tackle the chaos and to get costs down. First, I have informed the Rwandan Government that we will be ending the migration and economic development partnership. We will save £220 million on further direct payments to Rwanda over the next few years and we will immediately save up to £750 million that had been put aside by the previous Government to cover the MEDP this year.

Secondly, we will invest some of the saved money from the migration partnership into a new border security command instead. It will bring together the work of the Border Force, the National Crime Agency, the small boats operational command and intelligence and security officers. The recruitment has begun for a new commander and we will put in place additional cross-border officers, investigators, prosecutors, and intelligence and security officers with the new counter-terror-style powers against organised immigration crime announced in the King’s Speech last week. We are immediately increasing UK officers’ involvement in Europol and the European Migrant Smuggling Centre.

Thirdly, we will replace the Rwanda migration partnership with a serious returns and enforcement programme. We have immediately replaced the flight planning for Rwanda with actual flights to return people who have no right to stay to their home countries instead. We are immediately redeploying Home Office staff away from the failed Rwanda partnership and into returns and enforcement, to reverse the collapse in removals that has taken place since 2010. I have tasked the immigration enforcement team with intensifying enforcement activity this summer, targeting illegal working across high-risk sectors.

Fourthly, we will end the asylum chaos and start taking asylum decisions again so that we can clear the backlog and end asylum hotels. The new border security, asylum and immigration Bill announced in the King’s Speech will bring in new replacement arrangements, including fast-track decisions and returns to safe countries. In the meantime, I am laying a statutory instrument that ends the retrospective nature of the Illegal Migration Act provisions, so that the Home Office can immediately start clearing cases from after March 2023. Making this one simple change will save the taxpayer an estimated £7 billion over the next 10 years. Fifthly, as the Prime Minister has just set out, we will work closely with our European neighbours to tackle the upstream causes of migration, including through the Rome process.

This country will always do our bit alongside others to help those fleeing war and persecution, but we need a proper system where rules are enforced. There are no quick fixes to the chaos created over the last 14 years. It will take time to clear the asylum backlog, to bring costs down and to get new enforcement in place to strengthen our borders and prevent dangerous boat crossings, but there is no alternative to serious hard graft. We cannot waste any more time or money on gimmicks. The country voted for change, and that means it is time for a sensible, serious plan. I commend this statement to the House.

August 9, 2024
Keir Starmer – 2024 Statement on Rioting and Attacks on Police

The statement made by Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, on 4 August 2024.

I utterly condemn the far-right thuggery we have seen this weekend.

Be in no doubt: those who have participated in this violence will face the full force of the law.

The police will be making arrests.

Individuals will be held on remand.

Charges will follow. And convictions will follow.

I guarantee you will regret taking part in this disorder.

Whether directly or those whipping up this action online, and then running away themselves.

This is not protest. It is organised, violent thuggery.

And it has no place on our street or online.

Right now, there are attacks happening on a hotel in Rotherham.

Marauding gangs intent on law breaking. Or worse.

Windows smashed.

Fires set ablaze.

Residents and staff in absolute fear.

There is no justification – none – for taking this action.

And all right-minded people should be condemning this sort of violence.

People in this country have a right to be safe.

And yet, we’ve seen Muslim communities targeted.

Attacks on Mosques.

Other minority communities singled out.

Nazi salutes in the street.

Attacks on the police.

Wanton violence alongside racist rhetoric.

So, no, I won’t shy away from calling this what it is:

Far-right thuggery.

To those who feel targeted because of the colour of your skin…

Or your faith…

I know how frightening this must be.

I want you to know this violent mob do not represent our country.

And we will bring them to justice.

Our police deserve our support, as they tackle any and all violent disorder that flares up.

Whatever the apparent cause or motivation we make no distinction.

Crime is crime.

And this government will tackle it.

Thank you.

August 5, 2024
Keir Starmer – 2024 Statement on Rioting

The statement made by Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, on 1 August 2024.

This week – we are a nation in shock.

A country coming to terms with an attack so inexplicably vile…

That fear is an understandable reaction.

Our first thoughts of course are with the families at the heart of this…

Their pain is unimaginable.

And so I call on everyone to give them and indeed the wider community at Southport…

The space to grieve.

And time for the authorities in Merseyside…

To do their job.

There will be a time for questions.

And we will make sure that the victims and families in Southport…

Are at the heart of that process…

That’s the very least that we owe these families.

But we also owe them justice.

So while there’s a prosecution that must not be prejudiced…

For them to receive the justice that they deserve…

The time for answering those questions is not now.

And I remind everyone that the price for a trial that is prejudiced…

Is ultimately paid by the victims and their families.

Who are deprived of the justice that they deserve.

Let me turn now to the actions of a tiny, mindless minority in our society.

Because in the aftermath of this attack

The community of Southport had to suffer twice.

A gang of thugs, got on trains and busses…

Went to a community that is not their own…

A community grieving the most horrific tragedy…

And then proceeded to throw bricks at police officers.

Police officers who just 24 hours earlier…

Had been having to deal with an attack on children in their community.

Their community.

And make no mistake…

Whether it’s in Southport, London – or Hartlepool…

These people are showing our country exactly who they are.

Mosques targeted because they are Mosques.

Flares thrown at the statue of Winston Churchill.

A Nazi salute at the Cenotaph.

And so I’ve just held a meeting with senior police and law enforcement leaders…

Where we’ve resolved to show who we are.

A country – that will not allow understandable fear…

To curdle into division and hate in our communities.

And that will not permit, under any circumstances…

A breakdown in law and order on our streets.

Because let’s be very clear about this.

It’s not protest.

It’s not legitimate.

It’s crime…

Violent disorder.

An assault on the rule of law and the execution of justice.

And so on behalf of the British people…

Who expect their values and their security to be upheld…

We will put a stop to it.

I want to thank all of the police officers, across the country…

Who have already, as they so often do…

Stood up to intimidation and violence in the past few days…

And indeed, throughout the summer.

And let me be clear – the meeting this afternoon was not about pointing the finger of blame…

That is not how this Government of Service conducts its business…

Because it doesn’t work.

Rather – this was a meeting to pull together our response…

A response both to the immediate challenge…

Which is clearly driven by far-right hatred.

But also – all violent disorder that flares up.

Whatever the apparent cause or motivation – we make no distinction…

Crime is crime.

And so – to that end…

I can announce today, that following this meeting…

we will establish a national capability, across police forces…

To tackle violent disorder.

These thugs are mobile…

They move from community to community…

And we must have a policing response that can do the same.

Shared intelligence…

Wider deployment of facial recognition technology…

And preventive action – criminal behaviour orders…

To restrict their movements…

Before they can even board a train…

In just the same way we do with football hooligans.

And let me also say to large social media companies and those who run them…

Violent disorder clearly whipped up online…

That is also a crime.

It’s happening on your premises.

And the law must be upheld everywhere.

That is the single most important duty of Government…

Service rests on security.

And we will take all necessary action…

To keep our streets safe.

August 2, 2024
Richard Hermer – 2024 Swearing In Speech at Attorney General

The speech made by Richard Hermer, the Attorney General, on 15 July 2024.

It is a profound privilege to address the Lady Chief Justice and the Lord Chancellor and all the members of this court.

It is also a personal pleasure for me to make submissions in this courtroom when the risk of being asked tricky legal questions is at least lower than normal.

Being in government is a privilege that carries the responsibility of having to make hard choices but as we face the challenging path ahead the rule of law will be the lodestar for this government.

Governments should be judged by their deeds not by their rhetoric but I hope the professions and the public can take some comfort from the fact that, from the Prime Minister down, the new government is comprised of individuals who have the rule of law imprinted into their DNA, none more so than our new Lord Chancellor.

For all the reasons set out by my lady and for many more, I can tell the Court that we have a Lord Chancellor with the character, authority, intellect and experience not just to protect the rule of law but to begin to address the deep challenges facing our justice system.

We also have a Solicitor General who brings precisely the right mix of legal acumen, political nous and a dedication to public service to help make law and politics work together.

We wish to work with all in our mission to protect and promote the rule of law. Its principles are at the heart of the organisations the Law Officer’s superintend and we will work collegiately with the Bar Council, Law Society and CILEX in what I know is our shared endeavour to entrench the rule of law and promote human rights.

We recognise the imperative of seeking to ensure a cross-party consensus about our shared fundamental values and how we protect them for future generations.

The values that we are seeking to protect are not the property of any political party, they are not Labour values or Conservative values they are British values, indeed in many respects universal values.

The task has never been more urgent. In recent years, events at home and abroad serve to remind us all that once you start pulling on a single thread of the fabric of the rule of law system, when democratic norms are whittled away through attrition, the risk of systemic unravelling is great and the concomitant task of retrenching standards we once took for granted, very difficult indeed.

So My Lady the Law Officers will work together with the Lord Chancellor on our mission to protect and promote the rule of law. There is much to be done, too many tasks to describe in my allotted time, but let me say this.

We will support the Lord Chancellor’s mandate to protect the independence of the judiciary, allied to this we will work with her to promote better appreciation in Westminster and beyond of our constitutional balance in which a respectful relationship between parliament, the executive and the courts is understood to be the bedrock of our framework of governance.

We will work closely with the Lord Chancellor to promote the rule of law amongst the public, not least young people – seeking to use it to rebuild trust in our political system by explaining how it serves all of us and that no-one, least of all politicians, are above it.

Just as we will promote the rule of law domestically, so we will seek to promote international law and the rule of law in the international legal order. We will support the Foreign Secretary in all his efforts – cognisant of the importance of international law and the rule of law for the prosperity and security of all global citizens.

Looking inwards, we will seek to promote the highest standards in how we legislate – seeking to increase accessibility and certainty in how we make law, including not abusing the use of secondary legislation

Finally, as Law Officers we will seek to provide the Government that we serve with legal advice of the highest calibre and ensure that law is at the heart of everything that it does.

Notwithstanding the Law Officer’s commitment to the political aims of the government our legal analysis will always be guided by law not politics.

As I told a meeting with all of GLD staff last week – it is our job to speak truth to power. Sometimes we will get it wrong and in their judgments these Courts will explain why, and we will seek to learn and do better.

That is how our system works, it is as Lord Bingham said, a cardinal feature of the modern democratic state and the cornerstone of the rule of law.

July 23, 2024
Greg Smith – 2024 Comments on Prison Capacity

The comments made by Greg Smith, the Conservative MP for Mid-Buckinghamshire, in the House of Commons on 18 July 2024.

I listened very carefully to the Lord Chancellor’s comments about Members present and past who had legitimate concerns about new-build prison proposals in their constituencies. She will no doubt be aware of the proposals for a new mega-prison in Buckinghamshire on farmland adjacent to HMP Spring Hill and HMP Grendon. Those proposals are deeply unpopular in my constituency, first, on fairness grounds—they are affecting communities just one mile from the construction of HS2, which are already under siege from big construction—and, secondly, because the prisons in Buckinghamshire cannot recruit to the vacancies that they already have. Fully staffing a brand new prison is just not going to happen, so I ask the new Lord Chancellor to do my constituents the courtesy of sitting down with me so that she can hear why this particular proposal just will not work.

Shabana Mahmood

I thank the hon. Member for his question. May I gently say that this is part of the problem? I am not going to get into the specifics of his particular constituency or those particular planning proposals—those proposals are already within the planning system, as the shadow Lord Chancellor, the right hon. Member for Melton and Syston (Edward Argar), alluded to in his remarks—but prisons have to be built in this country. We have to do more building, we have to do it more quickly, and we have rightly said that we will always treat prisons as of national importance. That was actually a change brought in by the previous Government to unlock the delays that they had faced for many years, particularly when concerns were raised by their own Members of Parliament.

We take too long to build any kind of infrastructure in this country. That will not be the approach of this Government, so while I am very happy to consider any proposals that any Members of this House have about specifics in their constituency, the reality is that prisons will always be deemed by this Government to be of national importance, and they will be built.

July 19, 2024