On the other hand, some policy retreats are simply depressing. One of the telling and therefore ignored scandals of our time is the apparent veto the Sun newspaper has over large parts of criminal justice policy. When the Tories were in opposition the paper demanded Dominic Grieve’s head on a platter as a price for its support and was duly so treated; now it and its reactionary allies have forced the government to retreat from sensible plans for rewarding early guilty pleas with reduced sentences.
Alex Deane has a splendidly clear piece explaining why this was a mistake:
We already reward guilty pleas in the court system, on a sliding scale with more credit for earlier pleas and less credit for later ones (and “door of the court” isn’t the latest possible time, either – one can, for a sliver of credit, even cough mid-trial).
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in