Labour must raise the age of criminal responsibility

‘It will be to the Labour government’s enduring shame if it does not do what Lady Hale, among many others, is proposing.’ Photograph: Florence Law/The Guardian

Lady Hale is absolutely right to say that the prosecution of children under 14 is wrong and to ask the government to raise the age of criminal responsibility to at least 14, as is the case in most European countries (Top judges join call for England and Wales to raise age of criminal responsibility to 14, 23 December).

The claim of the unnamed Ministry of Justice spokesperson you quote, that setting the age of criminal responsibility at 10 enables early intervention to prevent reoffending, flies in the face of the facts on reoffending rates and the mountain of empirical research that demonstrates the opposite.