Could ethnic minority criminals soon find it easier to avoid jail?

Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, has accused his Labour counterpart Shabana Mahmood of not believing in ‘equality under the law’ and ‘enshrining’ a ‘double standard’ over who is, and isn’t, sent to prison. The accusations against Mahmood – and the Labour government – came after new guidelines from the Sentencing Council were published, which appear to make prison less likely for ‘ethnic’, ‘cultural’ and ‘faith’ minorities who are convicted of crimes.

The Sentencing Council’s updated rules state that, for a number of groups, the assumption should be in favour of a pre-sentence report (PSR). Convicted people under 25, females, those from an ethnic cultural or faith minority, pregnant women or sole carers for children are all considered likely to be eligible to have a PSR, which can prove useful in making the case for why a person shouldn’t be locked up.