Centre's Director in today's Times
Our Director, Richard Garside has been quoted in a Times article, 'More prison time for rapists and killers', on plans to toughen sentences for serious offenders. The plans, to be proposed at the Tory conference, will see an increase of 3,000 in prisons in England and Wales over the next decade.
Justice Secretary Robert Buckland will propose to end the current automatic early release half-way through a sentence, so those convicted of serious violence and sexual offences will, in future serve, two-thirds of their sentence.
Richard was asked to comment, saying:
Nothing says 'general election approaching' like conference promises of sentencing crackdowns. What is so striking about such announcements is their lack of ambition. There are so many things a government serious about reducing violence and sexual offending could do. Filling up a few thousand more prison cells is not one of them.
You can find the full article (paywalled) here.