Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood - "There will never be a two-tier sentencing approach under my watch" - printed guidelines suggests otherwise
March 5th, 2025
Secretary of State for Justice Shabana Mahmood MP stood up in the House of Commons and said:
And then let me just say finally, as somebody who's of an ethnic minority background myself, I do not stand for any differential treatment before the law for anyone of any kind, and there will never be a two tier sentencing approach, under my watch or under this Labour government.
https://twitter.com/ShabanaMahmood/status/1897300819990708227
MPs such as Robert Jenrick and Rupert Lowe have criticised the new Labour sentencing guidelines which say:
A pre-sentence report will normally be considered necessary if the offender belongs to one (or more) of the following cohorts:
• from an ethnic minority, cultural minority, and/or faith minority community
Robert Jenrick also posted the printed guidance:
The Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has followed up with the following post:
The Sentencing Council is entirely independent.
Today's updated guidelines do not represent my views or the views of this government.
I will be writing to the Sentencing Council to register my displeasure and to recommend reversing this change to guidance.
As someone who is from an ethnic minority background myself, I do not stand for any differential treatment before the law, for anyone of any kind.
There will never be a two-tier sentencing approach under my watch.
https://twitter.com/ShabanaMahmood/status/1897338599542006132
