The Latest Breaking News from Shabana Mahmood

Shabana Mahmood plans bill to overrule Sentencing Council in ‘two-tier justice’ row

Ministry of Justice drafts instruction for judges in England and Wales to ignore guidelines on age, sex and ethnicity

The Guardian - UK · Mar 30, 2025

Justice Secretary warned against ‘megaphone diplomacy’ in sentencing row

Former Tory justice secretary Sir Robert Buckland also suggested he had no truck with accusations the Government was implementing ‘two-tier’ justice.

The Independent UK · Mar 29, 2025

No 10 happy to dip its toe into culture wars in row with Sentencing Council

Concerns over sentencing guidelines are genuine but government also hopes to win admirers with tough attitude

The Guardian - UK · Mar 28, 2025

Killers could serve shorter jail terms for good behaviour in radical overhaul of sentencing, justice minister signals

Shabana Mahmood warned ‘short sentence reform on its own isn’t going to be enough’ to ease the overcrowding crisis as she opened a new 1,500-cell prison

The Independent UK · Mar 28, 2025

Police cells to be used again to hold prisoners as jails ‘close to capacity’

Shabana Mahmood said January saw the highest average monthly growth of the prison population in almost two years as she re-enacted the move.

Evening Standard · Mar 18, 2025

Prison crisis measures triggered as jails full just six months after thousands of offenders released early

The measure comes despite thousands of offenders being released early in September, under a scheme which was designed to tackle the overcrowding crisis until 2026

Evening Standard · Mar 18, 2025

Overflowing prisons trigger emergency measure to house inmates in police cells

Justice secretary triggers Operation Safeguard to use police cells for prisoners overnight

The Independent UK · Mar 18, 2025

Probation Service work to keep people safe ‘consistently insufficient’ – report

HM Inspectorate of Probation for England and Wales found staff shortages were impacting the quality of work to help offenders and protect victims.

Evening Standard · Mar 18, 2025

Government should abolish Sentencing Council, Tory MP suggests

Esther McVey drew comparisons to the Government’s recent decision to abolish NHS England.

Evening Standard · Mar 17, 2025

Amid all the noise about the UK’s ‘two-tier’ justice system, there is silence on class

New sentencing guidelines for England and Wales address gender and ethnicity but ignore poverty

The Guardian - UK · Mar 16, 2025