David Lammy on Justice

Conservative Problems

Since 2010, the Tories have closed 295 courts. The Crown Court backlog is now at an all-time high of 60,000 cases. Victims are giving up on the criminal justice system altogether. They are not being given court dates until up to four years later – if they get one at all.
 
Prosecutions and convictions for rape are at an all-time low. The government is now desperately setting up temporary ‘Nightingale courts’ to deal with the backlog they created. But just 30 nightingale courts are open, a fraction of the hundreds of permanent courts this government closed.
 
It is a classic example of Conservative false economy. Cutting infrastructure over a decade. Now having to pay more to Sellotape the broken parts together again.
 
We are proud of the legal aid system that was created by Clement Attlee’s Labour government in 1949. Its purpose is to provide legal advice for those who cannot afford it. But since 2010, the Conservatives have cut legal aid by 38%.
Under the Conservatives, everything in the justice system that is meant to be up is down and everything that is meant to be down is up. Anti-social behavior is up, convictions are down, the court backlog is up, rehabilitation is down, racial unfairness is up, access to justice is down.

Labour Solutions

Labour will strengthen your Human Rights, unlike this Conservative government which wants to water them down. Labour will legislate to bring The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into domestic law. 
Labour wants women to feel safe on our streets, and will put ending violence against women and girls at the very top of our agenda. We will fast-track rape and sexual assault cases in our courts, increase minimum sentences for rapists, create a new offence for street harassment, ensure victims of domestic abuse get the legal aid they need, and make misogyny a hate crime.
 
Labour will put victims first. The Tories have promised a Victims’ Bill in several Queens’ speeches but never delivered. Labour have produced legislation that would enshrine victims’ rights in law. It has been published. Introduced to Parliament. It is ready to go.
 
Labour recognises the importance of the private sector working in partnership with the public sector. That’s why today we are announcing that a Labour government would support the introduction of a new national pro-bono service. With binding pro bono targets to support those who can’t afford legal advice and are ineligible for legal aid.
 
Labour will introduce targets to bring in more women and more ethnic minorities to the most senior positions in our courts. We will reform the judiciary so that judges look more like the people they judge.

David Lammy MP

Shadow Secretary of State for Justice
27 September 2021

Rebuilding Labour and The Nation

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Does Labour have a chance at the next general election? Where do voters like the party’s offer and where does it need to strengthen it’s message?

In this report, Opinium pollster Chris Curtis sets out the challenge and the potential for Labour. He finds that Labour has closed the gap on the Conservatives since 2019 but must do more to show it has changed and inspire confidence with voters – especially those who switched to the Conservatives for the first time that year.

Fit For The Future

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Labour In Communications today released Fit for The Future - their report outlining practical, tactical steps Labour can take to build the best platform to communicate its vision for the future of Britain.

Published by Labour in Communications, a group made up of Labour supporters working in communications, Fit for The Future makes several recommendations on how the party can regain power at the next election, including simplicity of messaging, and offering a more positive and emotive vision that connects with voters and focuses on the issues that they care about. It argues that benefits of policies are often lost in the tone of messaging and there is a need to convey passion and emotion for what Labour are advocating.

I'd strongly recommend it.