Mr Angry At The Helm

We all know Johnson's cabinet consisted of mostly second rate lightweights and despite several deservedly getting the chop yesterday, some might say the situation hasn't improved much. The reshuffle also confirms how low down the food chain the Justice Department is with yet another change. Arguably a reasonably competent minister thrown under the bus and replaced with a very angry and now demoted Dominic Raab. Here's Rob Allen on our new Justice Minister writing in May 2015:-  

Tough and Unpleasant: New Minister's Views on Prisons

Dominic Raab, new Minister at the MoJ, is best known for his views on human rights, set out forcefully in his 2009 polemic The Assault on Liberty. Repealing the Human Rights Act will be his main task but his views on penal policy are noteworthy none the less.

In his book, Raab observes that prisoners have benefited more than most from new categories of human rights "foisted on Britain contrary to the wishes of parliament". He appears to think that the executive should have the power to veto the release of criminals on the grounds of public safety and seems unimpressed by judgments allowing prisoners to practice paganism in their cells or have access to fertility treatment. But Raab also argues that “the prison regime has called out for reform for years- to better prepare offenders for release into the outside world.”

Optimism about what that might entail evaporates quickly while reading another book Raab co-authored after the 2010 election, along with (among others)now fellow ministers Liz Truss and Priti Patel. After The Coalition: A Conservative Agenda for Britain argues that we need to "reverse the tide of soft justice". According to Raab, some judges have declined to jail criminals on human right grounds and punishment in the justice system is too often a dirty word.

There is an unwelcome belief according to Raab that prisoners should be treated in prison in a way that reflects the normal life of freedom that all citizens generally enjoy. He and his colleagues “are not ashamed to say that prisons should be tough, unpleasant and uncomfortable places”. They want persistent offenders sentenced for prolonged periods, praying in aid Howard League research on the ineffectiveness of short prison terms. Raab would also privatise all prisons.

Five years on Raab might take the view that prisons are now sufficiently unpleasant places. But his controversial views surely make the case for some form of pre-appointment scrutiny for would be ministers. The public have a right to know ministers' views about the areas for which they will have responsibilities, direct or indirect, and whether they are suitable candidates. In Raab’s case, I have my doubts.

Rob Allen

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Whilst we're about it, lets just remind ourselves of the character of the guy currently occupying No10. This from Monday's Guardian:-

PM condemned for joke about UK becoming ‘Saudi Arabia of penal policy’

Opposition politicians say Boris Johnson remarks about Priti Patel’s policies are a ‘new low’

A joke by Boris Johnson that the UK could become “the Saudi Arabia of penal policy” under Priti Patel has been condemned as “disgusting” and a “new low” by opposition politicians. The prime minister made the remarks, which can be viewed in video footage obtained and reported by Business Insider, during a speech behind closed doors at a Conservative party fundraiser event on 10 September.

“In the immortal words of Priti Patel or Michael Howard or some other hardline home secretary, addressing the inmates of one of our larger prisons: it’s fantastic to see so many of you here,” Johnson told the 300 attenders at the lunch, which took place at the InterContinental London Park Lane in Mayfair.

He went on to joke about the UK becoming the “Saudi Arabia of penal policy” under Patel as part of comments about work on renewable energy. “I said last year we’re the Saudi Arabia of wind. Probably the Saudi Arabia of penal policy, under our wonderful home secretary,” Johnson said.

Saudi Arabia is one of the most punitive regimes in the world. It is one of the few remaining countries to carry out capital punishment by beheading and has long been accused of grave human rights abuses, including the torture of activists. It can impose the death penalty for homosexuality and many drug offences.

Patel has previously indicated her support for the death penalty as a “deterrent” for serious crime, though she has since denied this and suggested she is not an “active supporter” of the policy.

Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, called the prime minister’s remarks “disgusting”. She tweeted: “Saudi Arabia beheads its own citizens, tortures activists exercising their democratic rights and kills homosexuals. This is disgusting. As ever with Boris Johnson behind closed doors the mask slips and we see what he really thinks.”

Alistair Carmichael, the Lib Dem spokesperson on home affairs, said the comments marked a “new low” for the prime minister. He added: “Saudi Arabia’s appalling human rights record is nothing to joke about. We have real and serious problems with crime and the rule of law in our country that deserve better than sloppy punchlines behind closed doors.

“UK police officers facing the PM’s pay cuts certainly won’t be laughing. Boris Johnson may admire his pals in the Saudi dictatorship but he cannot escape the fact that his Conservative government is failing miserably to do what actually works to prevent crime.”

In January, Politico reported on Johnson’s making a similar joke on a call with 250 business leaders. Downing Street denied he made the comments and said it was “total bollocks”.

During his speech at the event, the first large Tory party fundraiser event since the pandemic began, Johnson praised the role of the private sector in the pandemic.

“And who invented that vaccine, my friends? Was it produced in the laboratories of the Department of Health and Social Care? Was it Public Health England? Was it the NHS? No! No, it wasn’t. No, it was the private sector, it was big pharma, it was the UK pharmaceuticals industry,” the prime minister said.

Johnson also boasted about having been “the only politician who stood up for [the bankers] in 2008”. “We are, basically, fundamentally, the party of enterprise and wealth creation. And I salute the City of London, incarnated here, and I always stick up for the wonderful bankers,” he said, going on to refer to the role of capital in fulfilling his “levelling up” agenda.

Attenders paid up to £500 for tickets to the three-course lunch, raising “a substantial sum of money” for the Cities of London & Westminster Conservative Association as well as for Conservative campaign headquarters and other groups, according to the event’s brochure.

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The prime minister’s puerile remarks on penal policy (PM condemned for joke about UK becoming ‘Saudi Arabia of penal policy’, 14 September) plumb new depths in what passes for debate on the subject in this country. Short of conscription, the decision to imprison represents probably the most extreme manifestation of the state’s authority over individuals. Deciding how we exercise that power deserves better than a second-rate stand-up routine.

Peter Dawson
Director, Prison Reform Trust