Last night there was a good attendance at the Wokingham Conservatives annual dinner, with the Lord Chancellor as our speaker and guest of honour. He talked about prison reform, explaining how we was seeking to get drugs and organised crime rings out of our jails. He is considering what to do about the large number of short sentences for prison now given by the courts, which is adding greatly to the pressure on prison places. He explained that there is no evidence that many of these short sentences do any good. There might be more effective alternatives.
He was asked about a range of issues, from why the probate fees went up to the need to draw a line under investigations into soldiers actions in Northern Ireland many years ago. I raised with him the need to move on from the Chequers proposals which have found so little favour on either side of the Channel, in the wake of the news that they annoy a Remain MP like Jo Johnson as much as the many Leave MPs who find them unacceptable.
I would like to thank David Lee for hosting the event at St Anne’s Manor, the organisers and all who attended.
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