Government backdown on short sentences?
Our Director, Richard Garside, was quoted in The Times (paywall) on Justice Secretary David Gauke's recently announced prison reform plans.
In the wake of recent deaths from knife violence reported in the media, the Justice Secretary appears to be diluting his proposals to abolish short-term sentences, after facing pressure from the Prime Minister. At the weekend No. 10 said that both short and long-term sentences would be necessary to tackle knife violence.
Richard told The Times:
Over the past decade, sentences have already got a lot tougher. Those calling for even tougher sentences need to explain why they think this will work.
Last year, we published Young people, violence and knives, an analysis of approaches to knife violence reduction which can be read here.