GUMMER BLASTS KNIFE SENTENCE BILL
Plans to impose mandatory jail terms on those twice convicted for knife offences ran into strong opposition in the Lords today.
Tory former cabinet minister John Gummer, who sits in the Lords as Lord Deben, branded the move "intolerable" and urged ministers to think again.
Lord Deben said he found it impossible to support the proposal because Britain already had more people in prison than any comparable country in the world.
Judgments on punishment had to be made with a full understanding of the circumstances in each case and the likely effects of the punishment handed down.
He warned that short prison sentences in such cases do not work and could make matters worse.
Lord Deben said he also did not like the way the change had been added to the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill in the Commons after a campaign going on for years to "be tougher and lock up more people".
He told peers: "I don't like it when the law is changed, or proposed to be changed, not by the sober reflection of those who have to carry the consequences but the noisy statement of those who will move on to another campaign the moment that one ceases to sell newspapers."
Lord Deben's comments came as Liberal Democrats led a move to strike out the clause proposing mandatory jail terms for a second offence of knife possession in England and Wales.
Conservative MP Nick de Bois championed the policy in the Commons. It won wide support among Conservative and Labour MPs but was opposed by Liberal Democrats.
The measure aims to ensure that adults receive a minimum six-month jail term on their second conviction for carrying a knife, while 16-year-olds would be given at least a four-month detaining and training order.
