The Guardian - 12.07.2019

Section:GDN 1N PaGe:13 Edition Date:190812 Edition:03 Zone: Sent at 12/8/2019 0:18 cYanmaGentaYellowbl

Monday 12 Aug ust 2019 The Guardian •••

13

Peter Walker

Boris Johnson has set out a resound-

ingly tough stance on law and order

ahead of a possible autumn general

election, with a trio of announcements

on extending jail terms, building new

prisons and increasing police stop-

and-search powers.

Eschewing the more liberal

approach to criminal justice briefl y

tried when Michael Gove was justice

secretary, and prompting Labour crit-

icism about choosing posturing over

substance, Johnson said punishments

“must truly fi t the crime”.

The new policies, following on

from the plan for 20,000 extra police

offi cers, were unveiled in a series of

supportive newspapers, with accom-

panying opinion pieces from Johnson

and Priti Patel, the home secretary.

On sentencing, Johnson announced

a review of the policy of allowing some

prisoners with a fi xed sentence to be

released on licen ce mid way through a

term, on condition of continued good

behaviour. The review will also look

at potentially longer sentences for

violent and sexual off ences, and for

repeat off enders, and includes £85m

in extra funding for the Crown Prose-

cution Service.

“Dangerous criminals must be kept

off our streets, serving the sentences

they deserve – victims want to see it,

the public want to see it and I want to

see it. To ensure confi dence in the sys-

tem, the punishment must truly fi t the

crime,” Johnson said in a statement.

In another arguably populist pre-

election move, Johnson and Patel

announced that police will be freer to

carry out preventive stop-and-search

operations under the so-called sec-

tion 60 powers.

Stop-and-search is a controversial

tactic, and its effi cacy on a large scale

is in doubt. A Home Offi ce study of its

increased use in London when John-

son was mayor found no evidence

that it had contributed to reducing

crime levels.

One of Theresa May’s fl agship pol-

icies as home secretary was to make

police use stop-and-search more selec-

tively in the light of statistics showing

black people were seven times more

likely to be stopped by police than

white people, with only about one in

10 of those stops leading to an arrest.

But speaking on Sky’s Sophy Ridge

on Sunday show, Kit Malthouse, the

police minister and a long-time ally of

Johnson, said ministers were aware of

the sensitivities, arguing that the roll-

out of body-worn cameras to police

would help minimise the chances of

the powers being abused.

“It’s defi nitely the case that we have

to work very closely with all commu-

nities across the country to make sure

that stop-and-search is done in a pro-

fessional and sensitive way,” he said.

“Things have changed. The vast

majority of uniformed offi cers now

wear a body camera, so the interaction

between them and the person who is

being searched can be fi lmed, which

will lead to a professionalisation, and

in fact a better reaction from the per-

son being searched as well.”

Diane Abbott, the shadow home

secretary, said extending stop-and-

search powers was “a tried and tested

recipe for unrest, not violence reduc-

tion”. She said: “This draconian

approach shows that Boris Johnson’s

government has no real plans to invest

in policing or a public health approach

to tackling violent crime. They have

opted to appear tough instead of deal-

ing with the root causes of crime.

“Evidence-based stop and search

will always be a vital tool in prevent-

ing crime. But random stops have only

poisoned police community relations.”

The new prisons announcement,

for England and Wales, will see a new

prison built alongside HMP Full Sutton

in Yorkshire, as well as refurbishment

and maintenance work to create more

prison places. The 10,000 new prisoner

places will be on top of new prisons

already announced, at Wellingbor-

ough in Northamptonshire and Glen

Parva in Leicestershire, which the

Ministry of Justice said would pro-

vide 3,360 spaces by 2023.

Journal Leader comment Page 2

Stop and search

More powers for police as PM

toughens law and order stance

Police apology

Met chief’s claim clarifi ed

The Metropolitan police service

has apologised for giving “a

contrary impression” when its

commissioner, Cressida Dick,

told MPs the force met “really

regularly” with StopWatch, which

campaigns for fair and eff ective

use of stop and search.

Dick made the comments in the

home aff airs committee after the

Tory MP Rehman Chishti cited a

StopWatch report that said young

people from ethnic minorities

faced “ relentless searching ”.

Dick replied: “ There are groups

who see it as their job to hold the

police to account, keep an eye and

campaign on certain issues, and

that is what StopWatch does. We

meet with them really regularly.

We know each other very well .”

Dr Michael Shiner, from

StopWatch, said : “This came as a

surprise to us because StopWatch

has never met with Cressida and

has not had a meeting with any

other senior offi cers from the Met

for at least three years.”

A Met spokeswoman said:

“The commissioner was referring

to a number of groups  ... We

do not meet regularly with

StopWatch and are sorry if a

contrary impression was given.”

Mattha Busby

The Lucas cabinet

How they line up

Caroline Lucas’s call to female MPs

from diff erent parties and none to

unite to block a no-deal Brexit would

be a tricky political manoeuvre to

pull off , but what might a temporary

cabinet look like?

Prime minister

Caroline Lucas

The sole Green MP would head the

administration. She is a respected

fi gure in Westminster, albeit one

advocating quite radical policies.

Deputy PM

Jo Swinson

The Liberal Democrats leader would

require a very senior post in return

for providing her party’s 13 MPs.

Foreign secretary

Emily Thornberry

Thornberry holds the shadow post,

and would be an obvious choice.

But the fact Labour has ruled out

any alternative government not

led by Jeremy Corbyn makes her

participation – and the whole plan –

unlikely.

Home secretary

Yvette Cooper

A former shadow home secretary,

Cooper now chairs the home aff airs

committee, and so knows the brief

inside out. She is not an explicit

supporter of a second referendum,

which could be something of an

issue.

Chancellor

Justine Greening

Education would seem a better fi t,

given she has done the job and is

passionate about social mobility.

But as the only Conservative MP in

the mix, she would need a senior

job, and has been a junior Treasury

minister before.

Defence

Anna Soubry

A good fi t for someone who spent

two years as a junior defence

minister under David Cameron.

The former Conservative heads the

fi ve-strong Independent Group for

Change, or Change UK as it was.

Work and pensions

Heidi Allen

Another former Tory, who now sits

as an independent after splitting

from Change UK, Allen is a leading

member of the work and pensions

committee, and takes a close

interest in the area.

Nicola Sturgeon and Kirsty

Blackman (SNP), Liz Saville Roberts

(Plaid Cymru) and Sylvia Hermon

(independent unionist)

This is where things get a bit tricky,

not least as Sturgeon, the SNP leader,

is not even a member of the

Westminster parliament. Handing

out jobs to people representing seats

in Scotland, Wales and Northern

Ireland can create issues, given

so much of their domestic policy

is devolved. And as separatists,

neither the SNP representatives nor

Saville Roberts may be best placed

to take the Scottish or Welsh cabinet

portfolios. Peter Walker

Kirsty Blackman, the independent
Northern Irish MP Sylvia Hermon
and Plaid Cymru’s Liz Saville Rob-
erts. Yvette Cooper, one of the leading
Labour fi gures co ordinating eff orts
to stop no deal, has not explicitly
endorsed a second referendum.
Lucas, the former Green party
leader and its only MP, wrote: “It is
hard to remember a moment in my
lifetime when Britain faced a greater
crisis. A coup led by a small group of
right wing libertarians is all but com-
plete, as the Vote Leave team has been
re assembled and taken control of 10
Downing Street.
“They are set upon implementing
the most extreme no-deal version of
Brexit – and, most terrifyingly, we are
running out of time to stop them.”

Lucas said she believed women

from across the political spectrum

would be best placed to set up an

“emergency cabinet” to “work for

reconciliation” rather than fight

new political battles. “Why women?

Because I believe women have shown

they can bring a diff erent perspective

to crises, are able to reach out to those

they disagree with and cooperate to

fi nd solutions,” she wrote.

Soubry said she had been in contact

with Lucas over the idea, but had res-

ervations: “The very serious point is

that people of diff erent political views,

who might profoundly disagree over

some things, need to put their diff er-

ences aside and work together to stop

a no-deal Brexit. That is really impor-

tant. However, while I agree that

women can do things in a diff erent

way, if you’re trying to stop no-deal

Brexit then the key thing is to bring

people together, not to divide them

on the basis of their gender.”

Allen said she had signed up to the

plan: “Caroline is right to draw the

conclusion that often it’s us women

who are prepared to get people round

a table and work diff erently,” she said.

‘It is hard to recall

a time when Britain

faced a greater crisis’

Caroline Lucas
Green party MP

Home secretary?

Yvette Cooper

Chancellor?

Justine Greening

Defence?

Anna Soubry

Work and pensions?

Heidi Allen

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