Government's justice plans attacked

The Government is gambling with public safety and acting irresponsibly in its pursuit of Kenneth Clarke's rehabilitation revolution, shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan has said.

In his first major speech on justice, Mr Khan admitted that Labour made a mistake by "playing tough in order not to look soft" on crime and should have done much better in tackling the three out of five prisoners who go on to commit another offence.

Prison numbers, which are approaching a record high of almost 85,500, do need to come down, he said, but it should be as a result of less crime rather than arbitrary targets or releasing inmates early.

But Mr Khan warned that the Justice Secretary's rehabilitation plans, which propose bringing in payment-by-results to the criminal justice system, are "founded on the short-term need to cut costs, not crime".

"In the long run, they are risking increased costs by gambling with public safety," he said. "There is a real and genuine danger that because of their policies crime will rise. Quite simply, it's irresponsible to pursue this agenda without the investment to match it."

He went on: "When you see it for what it is, the Government is not championing the rehabilitation of criminals. Instead, the Government is abandoning their responsibilities towards rehabilitation.

"In essence, they are hoping that somehow, somewhere, the gap will be filled". But the organisations that might fill this gap "are currently faced with cuts and severe financial pressures of their own".

Mr Khan admitted that prison numbers soared to record levels under Labour, saying: "While we successfully reduced crime, we did not manage to reduce the prison population. Whatever the importance of custodial sentencing, prison isn't simply a warehouse for storing offenders."

Mr Khan went on: "Reoffending rates are still too high, as is the prison population. I'm clear that this is one area where our scorecard in office would have said 'could have done better'. Much better, in fact."

Outlining Labour's criminal justice policy at a Fabian Society and Prison Reform Trust lecture, Mr Khan said there is "more to criminal justice than prisons" and added "ultimately, we should be striving for a lower prison population".