Clause 9

Part of Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill – in a Public Bill Committee at 3:15 pm on 25 October 2007.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of David Howarth David Howarth Shadow Solicitor General, Ministry of Justice 3:15, 25 October 2007

The purpose, ultimately, is to protect the public. The hon. Gentleman is reading more into the clause than is there; it is still part of the purpose of the sentence to protect the public in those circumstances. The fundamental point is that one of the things that stands out about British society compared with almost all of the rest of the world, except, perhaps, the United States, is the profound degree of punitiveness that characterises our society, as we have heard today. What do we make of that? What do we do about that as policy makers?

The irony is that one of the clearest causes of crime in a young offender’s background is having been subject to a punitive parenting style. The same characteristic that makes our society punitive is the one that generates, in large measure, the crime that we are trying to prevent.