This week Parliament opened with the King’s Speech 2023 and people in Bassetlaw will no doubt have been pleased to hear our new plans regarding law and order, adding to existing measures to tackle crime and terrorism whilst ensuring victims get the support they need.
New measures include the Sentencing Bill, which will keep rapists and other serious sexual offenders behind bars for the whole of their custodial terms and make Whole Life Orders available for murderers who kill with sexual or sadistic conduct, so life really will mean life.
For offenders who would have served fewer than twelve months in prison, judges will have the discretion to suspend their custodial sentences in favour of suspended sentences with tough conditions, which have a much lower reoffending rate, meaning less crime and more offenders on the straight and narrow.
These offenders will repay their debts to society in the communities they damaged, delivering swift and visible justice that directly benefits our communities.
The Criminal Justice Bill will give police the tools they need to prevent crimes like digital-enabled crime, child sexual abuse, and child grooming. There will be additional safeguarding protections for our children and new measures against those who would harm them, police will have more powers to seize and destroy knives and criminals may face reasonable force if they refuse to appear in the dock.
The Victims and Prisoners Bill will give victims the confidence that our criminal justice system will work for them, and ministers will be able to block the parole of the worst offenders and stop those on Whole Life Orders from marrying in prison.
The Investigatory Powers Bill will give the security and intelligence services the powers they need to stop the threats to our national security.
The Conservative Government will also introduce Martyn’s law via the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill to make sure certain venues are prepared to respond to a terrorist attack following the Manchester Arena tragedy.
The Conservative Government is taking the long-term decisions needed to keep people safe in Bassetlaw, to deliver a brighter future for everyone.
If we are going to improve people’s lives for the better, we have to deliver long-term solutions.
This King’s Speech proved the Prime Minister will continue to break the old model of doing politics and deliver the long-term decisions we need.
