Business of the House

Ashley Fox Excerpts

Thursday 6th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

Absolutely, I join my hon. Friend in celebrating this historic occasion as Natasha and Lauren take to the ring in that first all-women�s boxing championship. This Government are committed to supporting and developing women�s sport, and not just in Blackpool but across the country.

[Sir Ashley Fox (Bridgwater) (Con)]

The Sentencing Council has issued guidelines saying that a pre-sentence report will normally be considered before sentencing a criminal from an ethnic, cultural or faith minority, or if the criminal is a woman or a transsexual, but not, apparently, if someone is a straight, white, Christian man. That evidence of two-tier justice is corrosive to public trust and confidence in the criminal justice system.

Given that Ministry of Justice officials attend the Sentencing Council, either the Lord Chancellor knew of the policy or she was asleep at the wheel. For the record, the Lord Chancellor�s predecessor, Alex Chalk, has described this as ridiculous. The Leader of the House failed to give a response to my hon. Friend the Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans), so will she find time for a debate on the Sentencing Council?

[Lucy Powell]

As I made clear to the hon. Member for Hinckley and Bosworth (Dr Evans) earlier, the Government have made it absolutely clear that we disagree with the guidance issued by the Sentencing Council. The hon. Member will know that the process and consultation for developing that guidance happened on his Government�s watch�it absolutely did. The Lord Chancellor has made her position and that of the Government absolutely clear today, and that is why she has written to the Sentencing Council.