Justice being done

In 2019, Thomas Griffiths stabbed to death his former girlfriend, Ellie Gould, before calmly returning to school. Griffiths, who was 17 when he committed the crime and 18 when sentenced, received just 12 and a half years in prison, with the right to a halfway review. It was a disgracefully lenient sentence that has inspired an admirable campaign for reform called “Ellie’s Law”.

Now the Government wants to create “a more subtle gradation” whereby the closer a criminal is to 18 when they commit an offence, the more their sentence reflects an adult’s tariff; teenagers guilty of the worst offences could get 27 years. The right to a halfway review for those sentenced post-18 will go.

Under Theresa May, ministers got the liberal bug – there was talk of removing bars from prison windows – and a number of scandals, such as the initial decision to release black cab rapist John Worboys on licence (thankfully reversed), seriously undermined faith in the system.

Intelligent Conservatives, such as Priti Patel at the Home Office, sensed the popular mood and the party did well in 2019 because it tapped into a deep well of cultural conservatism. The British working class has long been tolerant and open-minded, yet also strongly patriotic, proud of the Armed Forces, family-oriented and pro-law and order. Voters do not like it when killers get light sentences.

Tony Blair saw this and pitched himself as tough on crime and its causes, but the Left in general just doesn’t get it, preferring a permissive approach that only appeals to elites. This is one patch of political ground the Tories should capture and hold for as long as possible.