May 2013
5 posts
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary,...
“More than three years in to this Government, and their plans for a rehabilitation revolution have failed. Instead of tackling re-offending the Tory-led Government, propped up by the Liberal Democrats, is destroying our local probation services and centralising commissioning of services from Whitehall.
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“In place of the partnership model so crucial in rehabilitating offenders, the...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary,...
“This is a very worrying development and it’s right that there is a full inquiry into any irregularities in the payments associated with the tagging contracts with G4S and Serco. Given that the Ministry of Justice is in the middle of a multi-million pound re-tendering of the contract for electronic tagging, it is particularly important that we get to the bottom of this as soon as possible. That’s...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary,...
“We welcome efforts to make our courts more efficient and specialised. It’s important that we have swift justice, and I look forward to seeing results of how this works in practice. But this is the low hanging fruit of problems in our criminal justice system. We have called for a root-and-branch review of our whole criminal justice system, and this should be the Government’s priority as there...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary,...
“Reducing reoffending is one of the best ways to reduce crime, cut the number of victims and shrink the cost of our criminal justice system. But as usual with David Cameron he has promised change but has failed to deliver – on rehabilitation they have wasted the last three years doing nothing.
“Behind the headlines the Government has no idea how its policies will be implemented. It has no answers...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary,...
“Prison must be about both punishment and reform and part of this is having a regime that encourages personal responsibility and purposeful activity. But on this Government’s watch, there’s been little sign of their much-hyped rehabilitation revolution. Instead, with cuts in prison officers and increased overcrowding under this Government, prisoners are spending too much time in cells and not...
April 2013
3 posts
Sadiq commenting on today’s announcement that the...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, said: “As usual David Cameron tries to blame everyone and everything for his failure, but the truth is that our economy is flatlining and unemployment is going up due to his failed economic plan, which is nothing whatsoever to do with unlawful decisions being challenged by individual citizens.
“Besides, no Government is above the law and it’s...
Sadiq's speech on the Defamation Bill in the...
From Hansard, Check against delivery
Sadiq Khan: At the last general election, all three main parties were committed to reform our defamation laws. The Bill before us is a step forward in modernising our outdated defamation legislation. I shall shortly explain that it is not perfect—I believe that the House must decide on a number of crucial issues today—but it will lead to a much-needed updating...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary,...
Sadiq Khan MP, said:
“We need to modernise our defamation laws if we’re to strike the right balance between upholding free speech and protecting against damaged reputations. I urge MPs on all sides to accept the improvements made to the Bill led by Labour peers in the House of Lords. We need to grasp this once in a generation opportunity to update our defamation laws to suit the challenges...
March 2013
4 posts
1 tag
Sadiq's speech on the Justice and Security Bill,...
Sadiq Khan:
Let me begin by making it absolutely clear to the House where the Opposition stand on the issue of closed material procedures in civil proceedings. We accept that there may be rare examples where it is preferable for a CMP to be used because there is no other way a particular case can be heard. Our position has been influenced to a large extent by the views of the independent reviewer...
1 tag
Read Sadiq's speech in the House of Commons on...
Sadiq Khan:Let me begin by making it absolutely clear to the House where the Opposition stand on the issue of closed material procedures in civil proceedings. We accept that there may be rare examples where it is preferable for a CMP to be used because there is no other way a particular case can be heard. Our position has been influenced to a large extent by the views of the independent reviewer...
1 tag
Sadiq responding to Lord Neuberger’s comments on...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, said:
“Ministers must urgently respond to Lord Neuberger’s warnings that the Tory-led Government’s cuts to legal aid could undermine the rule of law.
“The cuts will not deliver the savings the Government claim as costs will simply be displaced elsewhere, such as on to increased running costs for our courts and on to other branches of central and...
1 tag
Sadiq commenting on last night's defeat for...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, said:
“It’s disappointing that Labour’s attempts to re-introduce checks and balances into the Government’s plans for closed material proceedings have been defeated by the Tories and Lib Dems. This had the support of the Government’s own Independent Reviewer of Terrorism and the Joint Committee of Human Rights. We will be looking to...
February 2013
3 posts
1 tag
Sadiq responding to planned changes to the...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, said: “There’s no more substance to this than the last time the Tory-led Government made the same announcement. Everyone wants to see a speeded up justice system but you don’t achieve this by cutting 23 per cent from the department’s budget, with fewer police officers, with a poorly resourced Crown Prosecution Service and...
1 tag
Sadiq's response to the publication of the Youth...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, said:
“Chris Grayling has a track record of prioritising headline chasing ahead of any thought-out details on his policies. His record with the Work Programme, which is failing, shows what this leads to. Given that payment by results hasn’t been a success in the Work Programme and is completely untested and untried in the criminal justice system...
1 tag
Sadiq comments on the tragic case of Frances...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, said: “This tragic case shows what can happen when pressures placed on victims and witnesses by our criminal justice system become too much. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Frances Andrade. It is critical that we find out exactly what happened in this case and what lessons need to be learnt. ...
January 2013
5 posts
1 tag
Sadiq comments on yesterday’s vote in favour of...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary said:
“The result of today’s vote means that the selfish and partisan Tory changes to our parliamentary constituencies have been stopped in their tracks by peers and MPs from all sides. David Cameron should try to win elections fair and square and not by moving the goalposts. It would have been an insult to democracy to reduce the number of...
1 tag
Sadiq comments on Chris Grayling's words on...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary said:
“After almost three years in office, it is astonishing that the Tory-led Government has only just discovered that some individual QCs are earning large sums from criminal legal aid. They’ve done precisely nothing in this time to tackle the high costs of criminal cases, nor have they done anything about wealthy defendants, like Tory donor Asil...
1 tag
Sadiq commenting on today’s announcement by the...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, said:
“The Tory-led Government is closing six prisons with the loss of 2,600 prison places over the next three months, with no replacement places guaranteed in the short term. This is on top of the six prisons closed just to save money since May 2010.
“The public will want reassurance that there’s enough prison places over...
1 tag
Sadiq's speech on probation in the House of...
Sadiq Khan (Tooting) (Lab): I thank the Justice Secretary for giving me advance sight of his statement.
It is universally agreed that we need to do more to reduce reoffending. Preventing offenders from going on to commit more crimes and create more innocent victims should be a priority for us all. Our probation service is the Cinderella of our criminal justice system. It has a low public profile,...
1 tag
Sadiq comments on the recent announcement on the...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, commenting on the Government’s announcement on the reform of probation services, said:
“Payment by results in criminal justice is untested, and the Tory-led Government are taking a reckless gamble with public safety. Pilots were already underway to see if payment by results worked and to ensure any problems were ironed out before being...
December 2012
6 posts
1 tag
Sadiq's comments on the publication of the report...
Commenting on the publication of the Report of the Commission on a Bill of Rights, Shadow Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan MP said: “The Commission was a classic political fudge, designed to paper over the cracks within the Tory-led Government, and today’s report is a dog’s breakfast as a result. The Human Rights Act is our Bill of Rights, and already provides legal protection against torture and...
1 tag
'The Human Rights Act is our Bill of Rights', says...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, commenting ahead of tomorrow’s expected publication of the report by the Commission on a Bill of Rights, said:
“The Commission on a Bill of Rights was always a political fudge. It’s not a cross-party committee; Labour was never asked our views on this or even asked to nominate representatives. The Commission was designed simply to paper over the...
1 tag
Sadiq welcomes consultation on changes to...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, responding to new proposals set out today by the Sentencing Council on sentences for serious sexual offences, said:
“It’s right and proper that sentences are regularly reviewed to make sure they remain up to date, apace with changes in society and technology, and maintain the public’s confidence. That’s precisely why Labour...
1 tag
Sadiq defends Labour's Human Rights Act
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, commenting on today’s Ten Minute Rule Motion by Richard Bacon MP calling for the repeal of the Human Rights Act, said: “Abolishing the Human Rights Act would leave victims of crime, residents in care homes, victims of phone hacking, journalistic sources and many thousands of others up and down the country without legal protection against abuse...
1 tag
Sadiq supporting changes to the rules of Royal...
Labour pledges cross party cooperation to change the rules of Royal succession to give female children the same rights as males.
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, said:
“It is fantastic news that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting their first child.
“It’s only right that we rectify the historical anomaly that prevents the eldest child of the monarch from...
1 tag
Commenting on today’s announcement of changes to...
Sadiq Khan said:
“With the Tory-led Government’s ‘two strikes’ policy, it’s only when you’ve committed a second serious and violent offence that you get a life sentence, which still means that a criminal will be released from prison at some point. But innocent victims of the second offence will rightly question why more wasn’t done to stop violent offenders after their...
November 2012
5 posts
1 tag
Commenting on today’s publication by the...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, said: “Labour’s policy is, and always has been, that prisoners shouldn’t be given the vote. Committing a crime so serious that a judge has deprived you of your liberty means you should also lose the ability to vote in elections. We opposed the Tory-led Government’s previous plans to give all prisoners serving less than four years a vote...
1 tag
The House of Lords amends the Government’s Justice...
Sadiq Khan MP, Shadow Justice Secretary, said:
“Open and transparency of justice is a hugely important principle, and deviating from it should only be done in the most serious of circumstances with proper checks and balances in place. The Government’s plans were too widely drawn with too few safeguards placing too much power in the hands of Government Ministers to decide what would be kept secret...
1 tag
Following the announcement by Chris Grayling on...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, said:
“Labour supports attempts that truly punish and reform those in prison, and rehabilitate them in order to prevent re-offending. But when the Ministry of Justice is losing a quarter of its budget and thousands of prison and probation officers are losing their jobs the numbers simply don’t add up.
“If Chris Grayling is proposing to include...
1 tag
Sadiq speaks on prisoner voting
“Labour has consistently believed that those deprived of their freedom after being given a custodial sentence shouldn’t be entitled to vote. While we recognise the importance of the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights, we feel the original decision back in 2004 was wrong, and that’s why the Labour government didn’t implement it, and we appealed again...
1 tag
Sadiq's opening speech for the debate on the...
Sadiq Khan (Tooting) (Lab): I beg to move,
That this House affirms its commitment to the blameless victims of violent criminals who suffer physically, emotionally and financially from the injuries inflicted upon them; recognises that the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme is the fund of last resort for much needed compensation for these blameless victims and is relied upon by many thousands of...
October 2012
3 posts
1 tag
Sadiq meets with Dara O'Briain and Simon Singh to...
Sadiq, along with Ed Miliband, met with representatives of the Libel Reform Campaign to hear their concerns on the Government’s Defamation Bill which is currently going through the House of Lords.
Defamation reform does not come round very often, so it’s really important we make the most of this Bill to modernise our outdated laws. The problem is that, as it stands, the Bill does not make a...
1 tag
Read Sadiq's interview with the newly re-launched...
Interview: Sadiq Khan, shadow boxer
Thursday 18 October 2012 by Catherine Baksi
Sadiq Khan was in characteristically energetic mode at the Labour party conference recently, headlining fringe events on criminal justice, youth offending and human rights. Last week he paused for reflection at Portcullis House opposite parliament, allowing the Gazette an opportunity to ascertain how far...
1 tag
Homeowners Defence Against Burglars
Homeowners Defence Against Burglars
Shadow Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan MP said: “Having your home burgled is a terrible violation of your own personal space. It is an awful experience. It’s right and proper that those found guilty of burglary are properly punished for this severe crime and that homeowners are able to protect their property. And that’s why Labour strengthened the law...
August 2012
2 posts
1 tag
House of Lords reform and parliamentary boundaries...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, commenting on today’s announcement by Nick Clegg that House of Lords Reform is to be abandoned, and that the reduction in the number of MPs and changes to parliamentary boundaries are not being implemented, said: “Today’s humiliation for the Government is a spectacular failure of leadership from David Cameron. Just three months in, a...
1 tag
Now Nick Clegg knows real roadblock to reforming...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, commenting on reports that attempts to reform the House of Lords will be abandoned, said: “We warned Nick Clegg that the real roadblock to reforming the Lords was the Tory Party - something we learned the hard way from our 13 years in Government. Given today’s reports, it’s a pity that Nick Clegg simply dismissed our warnings and instead...
July 2012
8 posts
1 tag
Today’s highly critical report by the Chief...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, commenting on today’s report by the Chief Inspector of Prisons and the Chief Inspector of Probation, said: “Today’s highly critical report by the Chief Inspectors of both Probation and Prisons is a double-whammy. The Tory-led Government’s so-called “Rehabilitation Revolution” is seen as nothing but a sham. There’s no substance to the Government’s...
1 tag
Victims should be at the heart of our criminal...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, commenting on the Ministry of Justice announcement on the Victims and witness strategy today, said:
from Labour Party News http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LabourPartyNews/~3/OPA-SAmwIGA/victims-should-…
1 tag
Victims should be at the heart of our criminal...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, commenting on the Ministry of Justice announcement on the Victims and witness strategy today, said: “Victims should be at the heart of our criminal justice system – our approach should be about preventing people becoming victims in the first place, but also giving those on the end of criminal actions the support they need. “This...
June 2012
13 posts
Labour Wants Lords Reform – But Our Support Isn’t...
Writing exclusively for PoliticsHome, Shadow Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan warns the Coalition its plan for House of Lords reform “still falls short” of what Labour wants.
The much anticipated House of Lords Reform Bill was published yesterday. In a week when official figures revealed that we are borrowing record amounts and at a time when people up and down the country are worried...
1 tag
Prison escapes are becoming a habit under this...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, responding to the prisoner escape from Pentonville Prison, said:
from Labour Party News http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LabourPartyNews/~3/bHC_mW20Zqw/prison-escapes-…
1 tag
Government showing breathtaking arrogance on Lords...
Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, commenting on reports the House of Lords Reform Bill will not include a referendum on the proposals, said:
from Labour Party News http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LabourPartyNews/~3/y26pYql_JNk/govt-showing-br…
