Labour’s confused stance on immigration riles the tabloids in today’s papers – with the party’s position described as ‘bone headed’ in the Daily Express. Meanwhile, prison reform is on the agenda elsewhere, as the Guardian says Liz Truss should release the thousands of prisoners still locked up despite serving more than their minimum sentences. But whatever is done to sort out the mess of Britain’s prisons, it’s no time to make them more comfortable for inmates, says the Daily Mail. Here are what the papers are saying this morning:
The Sun hits out at Labour in its editorial this morning, saying the party’s policy on immigration shows what a mess the opposition are in. It says it’s not clear exactly what the party stands for – from Diane Abbott’s vow to do nothing, to her fellow MP Clive Lewis saying that migrants should only be let into Britain if they join a trade union – a move the paper says would ‘conveniently swell Labour coffers’. And instead of holding the government to account at this crucial time, it says Jeremy Corbyn seems more interested in spending a night at the cinema. ‘At least no one can say they don’t know how to have a good time,’ the paper concludes.
The Daily Express also attacks Labour, calling Clive Lewis ‘bone headed’ for his proposed policy on getting those coming to work in Britain to sign up to a trade union. The paper says this suggestion ‘betrays his party’s utter lack of credibility’ and makes it clear the ’hard-Left ideologues’ at the top of Labour aren’t interested in ‘listening to the concerns of working people and acting in their best interest’. The only saving grace, the paper says, is that Labour ‘have no hope’ of putting their policies into practice.
The Guardian speaks up for the thousands of prisoners locked up in Britain’s jails under indeterminate sentences for public protection. It says that 3,200 of this number are still behind bars, despite having served more than their minimum tariff. Highlighting the situation of James Ward, who was convicted of arson in 2006 and has now been banged up for more than a decade despite being told his minimum term would be ten months, the paper says the current situation is deplorable. The Guardian concludes by saying that releasing those who have already served ‘far too long’ ‘is the right thing to do to save money. And it is the right thing to do for the sake of justice.’
The Daily Mail takes a different line on prisons, saying while it’s ‘laudable’ for Liz Truss to focus on rehabilitation, it’s wrong to make life in jail more ‘comfortable’ for inmates. The paper says that those behind bars often get locked up after the failure of other ‘soft options’, such as cautions and suspended sentences. So, the Mail says, it’s important to make Britain’s prisons places of ’order, austerity and discipline’, rather than ‘debauched holiday camps’.
Meanwhile the Times calls on the government not to shelve plans to reform the House of Lords. It says it’s understandable ministers may be reluctant to pick a fight with peers given the looming prospect of Brexit. But it says this is a mistake. The paper says ‘meaningful House of Lords reform has been a long time coming’ – and argues that it’s ‘wholly unacceptable’ that the upper chamber should hold up legislation put through by elected MPs. Finally, the paper says, May might regret not pressing through with reforms of the Lords – especially when the government does its best to deal with its ‘boundary review, or perhaps Brexit itself’ in the coming months
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