In a rare act of grace, for a politician, Lord Blunkett last month admitted he made a mistake 20 years ago. He was the Labour Home Secretary who introduced new legislation to get tough on crime.
Indeterminate sentencing for public protection (IPP) was introduced by him in 2005 to protect the public from dangerous and persistent offenders. It meant a life sentence could be given for 153 crimes, including affray and criminal damage.
Between 2005 and 2013 8,711 people in England and Wales were given an IPP sentence. They were scrapped in 2012 on the back of a European Court ruling that they breached human rights - on the grounds that prisons had failed to provide inmates access to the rehabilitation courses required to demonstrate to the Parole Board that they were safe to be released.
