Offenders must be punished and rehabilitated at the same time if we want a justice system fit-for-purpose, David Cameron said in his first speech on crime as Prime Minister.
In front of an expert audience at the CSJ, Mr Cameron announced a raft of new measures – such as offering rehabilitation to short-term prisoners, paying charities and companies who work with offenders by results, and introducing a ‘two strikes and you’re out’ policy for serious offenders.
The CSJ took part in a number of broadcast media interviews, where Managing Director Christian Guy broadly welcomed the speech and urged the Government to continue with its ‘rehabilitation revolution’. He was interviewed on BBC Newsnight (from 25:30), BBC News 24, BBC Radio 5 Live’s Drive show and the same station’s Tony Livesey programme.
The event was covered by the Telegraph, Guardian, BBC, Sky News
and politics.co.uk.
The last major speech Mr Cameron gave on criminal justice was at the CSJ six years ago - notoriously dubbed 'hug a hoodie' - where he said if we want to tackle crime we have to look at its root causes and commit to social reform.
Saying he and the CSJ had been on a journey together, the PM noted the landmark report, Breakthrough Britain, had been ‘hugely influential’ on his political vision. Yesterday he welcomed the launch of Breakthrough Britain II as a new review that will ‘shine a light on the darkest places in society’.
The project will look at the pathways to poverty: family breakdown, addiction, unmanageable personal debt, economic dependency, educational failure and the role of the voluntary sector in tackling social breakdown. Anyone interested in contributing to the six areas of this major report can contact the CSJ at admin@centreforsocialjustice.org.uk