Conservative parties everywhere have traditionally been identified with maintaining law and order and cracking down on crime. As part of his successful campaign to appeal to right-of-centre voters, even Tony Blair before his 1997 election triumph famously vowed to be ‘tough on crime – and tough on the causes of crime’. So, in yet another sign of the approaching election, it was unsurprising this week to see Rishi Sunak doing his belated best to scramble on board the law and order bandwagon.
In a series of announcements on the topic, the Prime Minister pledged a judge-led public inquiry into the crimes of Lucy Letby, convicted of the murders of seven babies who were in her care.
In a parallel move, Sunak promised new legislation to force killers like Letby to appear in the dock to hear their sentences and face the families of their victims. This announcement came after the nurse, and a string of other recent murderers, caused outrage by cowering in their cells, rather than appearing in court to learn their fate.
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