Downing Street Says » 2006 » June

» Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Sentencing

Asked what were the further measures that the Prime Minister talked about, and were they changes to parole arrangements, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that people should wait and see. We were aware that there were various reviews going on in the Home Office, and that the Home Secretary was looking at various aspects. Therefore, it was better that the Home Secretary was given the time and the space to reach his conclusions, and then to see what was necessary. What was clear was that there could be a need for further legislation in some areas, and that would come if necessary.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Life Sentencing

Asked whether the Prime Minister was aware of what the 53 cases were, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that his understanding was these were cases that arose under the provisions of the 1997 Crime Sentences Act, which had been introduced by the previous administration, it legislated the concept of automatic life sentences for people who committed serious offences such as grievous bodily harm and sexual violence. Under that Act the court could set out a minimum tariff that had to be served for punishment. It was at the end of the tariff that the parole board could consider whether the individual concerned had to serve longer in order to protect the public. It was the parole board, not ministers or officials, which decided these cases. This government replaced the provisions of that act in the 2003 Criminal Justice Act, which widened considerably the range of offences, but most importantly it introduced the possibility of indeterminate sentences under which the parole board could judge that if an individual were still a serious threat to the public they would not be released. Therefore both the range of offences and the possible length of sentence had been considerably increased by this government. In response to the suggestion that the two strikes and your out legislation was 2000, the PMOS said that his understanding was that it was originally in the 1997 Crime Sentences Act.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (2)

Sovereignty

Asked in light of the Law Lords decision today had the Government decided to side with the Saudi government against British citizens, the PMOS said that if the journalist listened to what the Prime Minister had said, he had said precisely that we were not taking a position. Rather, we were defending British national interest, which was to defend the principle of sovereignty. The PMOS said that people could not take a neutral position on their own national sovereignty; people either surrendered it, or they defended it. Put that it was not the national sovereignty, the PMOS said that in terms of the legal implication, it was.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (2)

Immigrant Amnesty

Asked what the Prime Minister thought about an amnesty on immigrants, the PMOS said that there were no plans for an amnesty. Asked why Liam Byrne had asked officials to look at it, the PMOS said that he had been doing the proper job of a minister which had been to make sure he had all the facts and analysis available as was appropriate and if you looked at what he had said you could see it was clear that there were no plans for an amnesty.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (5)

Dorneywood

Asked by Sky if there was any update as to who would get Dorneywood, the PMOS said that they could keep asking, and he would keep ducking.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Forest Gate

Asked whether the Home Office knew about the raid beforehand, the PMOS said that all the appropriate agencies were informed and involved but he would not get into the process. Asked whether the Prime Minister knew, the PMOS said that he had not at any stage gone into the decision making process. It was the substance that mattered here not a commentary on the process.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Original PMOS briefings are © Crown Copyright. Crown Copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland. Click-use licence number C02W0004089. Material is reproduced from the original 10 Downing Street source, but may not be the most up-to-date version of the briefings, which might be revised at the original source. Users should check with the original source in case of revisions. Comments are © Copyright contributors. Everything else is © Copyright Downing Street Says.

The unofficial site which lets you comment on the UK Prime Minister's official briefings. About us...

» Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Sentencing

Life Sentencing

Sovereignty

Immigrant Amnesty

Dorneywood

Forest Gate

Search

Supported by

Recent Briefings

Archives

Links

Syndicate (RSS/XML)

Credits

Enquiries