First and foremost many thanks indeed Joshua, for all your industry and the clarity you bring to a myriad, complex issues.
Secondly, I too applaud Messrs Owen and MacDonald for their straightforward censure of a Justice Secretary/Lord Chancellor I very much wish to retain some significant faith in. Let us face it, it remains a dismally low bar for her to clear following upon one dismal, opportunistic careerist after another over the Conservative years. Of the honourable exceptions, I hasten to name David Gauke who understood his role and indeed the rule of law . The early indications in his advisory role he grasps the legitimate aims of sentencing. He has already boldly and rightly spoken out against the unseemly “bidding wars” over sentencing which have so often cheapened and betrayed the desperately needed sentencing reform which yet again is in jeopardy of being blown off course. I hope he may find a form of words to reinforce such sentiments; I dare to imagine that the likes of the dedicated reformer Lord Timpson, after all of Shabana Mahmood’s own Ministry, would welcome that rather than any further unworthy outbursts.
On the Lord Chancellor's comments about the attack on prison officers - her difficulty is that she is Lord Chancellor and therefore required to be independent but not solely Lord Chancellor but also executively responsible for Prisons. This is why Prisons (and similar) should be handed back to the Home Office and/or the Home Office split to permit it
Sadly, it seems that Shabana Mahmood sees herself as politician first, Lord Chancellor second. My simple advice to her would be to stay off social media and concentrate on her legal role. She would gain much more respect if she did.
I echo earlier contributors’ comments..
First and foremost many thanks indeed Joshua, for all your industry and the clarity you bring to a myriad, complex issues.
Secondly, I too applaud Messrs Owen and MacDonald for their straightforward censure of a Justice Secretary/Lord Chancellor I very much wish to retain some significant faith in. Let us face it, it remains a dismally low bar for her to clear following upon one dismal, opportunistic careerist after another over the Conservative years. Of the honourable exceptions, I hasten to name David Gauke who understood his role and indeed the rule of law . The early indications in his advisory role he grasps the legitimate aims of sentencing. He has already boldly and rightly spoken out against the unseemly “bidding wars” over sentencing which have so often cheapened and betrayed the desperately needed sentencing reform which yet again is in jeopardy of being blown off course. I hope he may find a form of words to reinforce such sentiments; I dare to imagine that the likes of the dedicated reformer Lord Timpson, after all of Shabana Mahmood’s own Ministry, would welcome that rather than any further unworthy outbursts.
Thanks for highlighting Phillip Sales’s concurring but separate judgment 🙂
On the Lord Chancellor's comments about the attack on prison officers - her difficulty is that she is Lord Chancellor and therefore required to be independent but not solely Lord Chancellor but also executively responsible for Prisons. This is why Prisons (and similar) should be handed back to the Home Office and/or the Home Office split to permit it
Excellent blog, Joshua: informative, interesting and clear and easy to read. Hope you now get a short break!
Thank you. Yes, not planning to publish on the two public holidays.
Sadly, it seems that Shabana Mahmood sees herself as politician first, Lord Chancellor second. My simple advice to her would be to stay off social media and concentrate on her legal role. She would gain much more respect if she did.