Court Backlog and Sentencing Guidelines Debate

Speaker, I don't pretend that cutting the court backlog is easy,

although it will

be quick. But the Secretary of State owes the

country a plan and a

timetable for when the backlog is actually going to fall.

This morning, she was repeatedly asked, but refused to give an

answer. So can she tell the country now, when will the

court backlog begin to fall? By what date does her

department forecast it falling? And why will she not take

up the two and a half thousand additional sitting days

offered time and time again by the Lady Chief

Justice? And lastly, turning to the new sentencing guidelines

that's been published alongside this statement, which will make a custodial

sentence less likely for, and I quote, "ethnic

minorities, cultural minorities, and faith minority

communities." Why is the Justice Secretary enshrining this double

standard, this two-tier approach to sentencing?

This is an inversion of the rule of law.

We on this side of the house believe in equality under

the law.

Hear hear.

Why doesn't she?

Hear hear.