Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, responded to figures published in mid-September showing that a quarter of those arrested during the last months riots in England had committed at least 10 previous offences. He said:
“It is right that those convicted of crimes related to the riots are properly punished. But the fact that so many of the perpetrators of these crimes had committed several previous offences makes clear the need to reform them, so we can avoid this happening again in the future. There is no evidence that this Tory-led Government is up to the task.
“Ken Clarke has identified the problem of reoffending but has offered no solutions. The Chief Inspector of Prisons has said that the Justice Secretary has failed to embark on his self proclaimed ‘rehabilitation revolution’ and instead we are seeing frontline cuts to the prison and probation services. This makes it extremely unlikely that reoffending rates will improve.
“There is no excuse for the riots that shocked our country last month and people will want assurances that all means necessary are taken to ensure they don’t happen again. That means this Tory-led Government has to learn the lessons from the riots and rethink their decisions to cut so many frontline jobs in the police and criminal justice systems.”
