Rape prosecutions targets are a disastrous idea

Prominent amongst the achievements of the current government has been the establishment of a battalion of ministerial taskforces. We now have the culture renewal taskforce, the waste taskforce, the infrastructure delivery taskforce, the libraries taskforce, the university research and knowledge exchange sustainability taskforce and the roadmap taskforce (whose onerous task it is to coordinate no fewer than five sub-taskforces).

First among equals of all of these is the criminal justice taskforce, established with the explicit purpose of restoring the Conservative Party’s reputation as the party of law and order. Chaired by the Prime Minister, members are reported to include Priti Patel, Robert Buckland and what is described as a ‘rolling membership’ of other senior ministers. The intent, it was said when the taskforce was set up in January, is to bring about ‘a return to clarity’ on criminal justice policy.

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Ross Clark

Britain is living beyond its means

Little was heard from it until Sunday, when