Richard Burgon MP,
Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, responding to the
speech by David Lidington at the Conservative Party conference, said:
“It is clear that the
Conservatives have abandoned any attempt to fix the crisis they created in our
prisons and justice system. David Lidington’s speech was mostly a rehashing of
previous announcements, presumably he hopes no one will noticed that the Conservatives
have run out of ideas.
“Talk of reform and rehabilitation
is empty rhetoric unless staff numbers are substantially increased. One third
of prisons have seen further cuts in their officer numbers this year alone,
while officer leaving rates are up three fold under this Government and plans
for a further real terms pay cut for prison officers will deepen the crisis
further.
“It is shocking that David
Lidington didn’t even bother to mention legal aid, let alone outline solutions
to help the hundreds of thousands of people who have been priced out of the
justice system by the Conservatives’ cuts.”
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