Key events<\/p>\n
Badenoch defends decision to allow former neo-Nazi to stand in local elections<\/p>\n
Kemi Badenoch has defended the Conservative party\u2019s decision to allow a former neo-Nazi to stand as a councillor, although she indicated he might not be allowed to become a candidate for parliament.<\/p>\n
The Tory leader said Joshua Bonehill-Paine had been rehabilitated and now worked to tackle racism and antisemitism.<\/p>\n
She told BBC Radio 4\u2019s Today:<\/p>\n
double quotation markI\u2019m not giving him a national platform, he is standing to be a councillor in Somerset\u2026 it is a local platform looking at parking, sorting out bins. I have much higher thresholds for what it takes to be a Conservative MP.<\/p>\n
She added:<\/p>\n
double quotation markI am extremely worried about antisemitism and what I feel is that if we can\u2019t have the people who have previously been radicalised, who understand what went wrong and are part of the fight against antisemitism now, if we\u2019re saying: \u2018No, no, no, you\u2019re untouchable,\u2019 then how can we pretend that we believe in rehabilitation?<\/p>\n
I\u2019m someone who\u2019s quite sceptical about rehabilitation and I see this man as somebody who has been rehabilitated.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n Continuing his media round on the airwaves this morning, justice minister Jake Richards said he understood the \u201cstrength of feeling\u201d among police about PC Andrew Harper\u2019s death but that without prison places officers would not be able to do their jobs.<\/p>\n Richards said that Harper\u2019s Law strengthens the sentence for perpetrators who commit such offences but that \u201cit doesn\u2019t work retrospectively\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI understand the strength of feeling from police officers generally, but of course within that force in particular after the awful incident with Pc Andrew Harper,\u201d he told BBC Breakfast.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we do not have prison places available then the police, the good work that they do every day on the streets, finding perpetrators, locking them up, it would be impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked about those who remain eligible, Richards told BBC Breakfast:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe new regime comes into effect from October the first. The sentences, or the offences, sorry, which have been carved out, have been published online.<\/p>\n Manslaughter is not one of those offences, and it would be wrong to pick out individual cases within different offending cohorts. That wouldn\u2019t be right. It wouldn\u2019t be lawful either.<\/p>\n So it is correct that those two individuals will be subject to the new regime from October.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Justice minister Jake Richards said the government \u201ccannot carve out every single offence people might want us to\u201d amid claims a loophole means historical child sex abusers will still be eligible for early release from prison.<\/p>\n Asked about The Times reporting that the rules will not apply to child sex offences that took place before the law changed in 2003, Richards told Sky News:<\/p>\n double quotation markWell, we\u2019ve set out and published all the offences which have been now carved out of the new scheme that begins in October.<\/p>\n Those are all online, several pages. But what we have been very clear is that we cannot carve out every single offence that people might want us to do so.<\/p>\n We would like to do that, the prime minister has been very clear in his public pronouncements on this.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Richards told BBC Breakfast that \u201cprevious early release schemes\u2026 were rushed\u201d.<\/p>\n He added:<\/p>\n double quotation markThey weren\u2019t thought through. There was no preparatory work at all done by the government because they were essentially running a system which was out of control, and that this is fundamentally different.<\/p>\n He said the new scheme would ensure every victim was contacted and invited to share what measures they want in place to \u201censure that they can be kept safe\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Thames Valley chief constable ‘considering’ joining Police Federation legal challenge<\/p>\n The Thames Valley chief constable has said he is \u201creceiving legal advice\u201d and would \u201ccertainly consider\u201d joining the Police Federation\u2019s legal action over the possible release of PC Andrew Harper\u2019s killers.<\/p>\n Asked if he would join the case, Jason Hogg told the BBC\u2019s Today programme on Wednesday:<\/p>\n double quotation markThis is something I certainly would consider. But like I said, I urge the government now.<\/p>\n I do think that the public opinion is overwhelming in this matter, but I think it\u2019s unfair and I do believe confidence in the criminal justice system risks being damaged.<\/p>\n It\u2019s right for the government to have a look at this matter.<\/p>\n He added that their possible release has had a \u201cprofound impact\u201d on his force.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Minister defends early release of PC Andrew Harper’s killers amid possible legal challenge<\/p>\n Good morning and welcome to the UK politics blog.<\/p>\n Ministers continue to defend the release of PC Andrew Harper\u2019s killers as part of the government\u2019s early prisoner release scheme, despite a potential legal challenge from the Police Federation.<\/p>\n Justice minister Jake Richards acknowledged the \u201cunimaginable pain\u201d of the deceased officer\u2019s family but said \u201cdifficult decisions\u201d must be made because law and order could \u201ccollapse\u201d without a functioning prison system.<\/p>\n About 1,000 fewer prisoners will be released early after Andy Burnham\u2019s intervention to exclude those convicted of rape, serious child sexual offences and grooming from the scheme.<\/p>\n Asked to respond to Police Federation chief Aileen O\u2019Connor\u2019s threat of legal action, he told Sky News:<\/p>\n double quotation markWell, look, we understand that people are angry. The Harper family are, of course, angry. The police are angry too.<\/p>\n We\u2019re angry that we\u2019re in this situation where we face the unenviable position of having to make sure that we have a sustainable prison system, which is so vital to a functioning law and order system in our country, but also that we do right by victims as far as possible.<\/p>\n And the prime minister has looked again at the scheme. He said he wants to do more than he has been able to do, and that we wanted to take further action to try and ease the unimaginable pain that the Harper family are feeling every day, but we also have to balance that by ensuring that we have a functioning prison system.<\/p>\n He added:<\/p>\n double quotation markBecause without a functioning prison system, it means it\u2019s difficult for police to make arrests, it\u2019s difficult for our courts to try cases, and it could mean to the collapse of law and order in this country.<\/p>\n We cannot be in that situation, so that is the challenge that we face as government ministers and the prime minister faces ultimately.<\/p>\n Richards\u2019 defence of the policy came as a Police Federation chief told Times Radio she feels \u201csick to her stomach\u201d over the possible early release of PC Harper\u2019s killers.<\/p>\n Aileen O\u2019Connor, chairwoman of Thames Valley Police Federation, previously wrote in The Sun newspaper that the organisation \u201cwill throw everything at this through a proper legal challenge from KCs, barristers, you name it.\u201d<\/p>\n She added on Wednesday:<\/p>\n double quotation markI feel sick to my stomach, if I\u2019m really honest with you. I\u2019ve had a gut wrenching feeling in my stomach the past couple of weeks with this, and it doesn\u2019t go away.<\/p>\n And arguably, I would say that many of my members across Thames Valley also have this gut wrenching feeling, even at the prospect of these two killers being released in the space of weeks, potentially.<\/p>\n In other developments:<\/p>\n Ministers will scrap the requirement for companies to prove their green and progressive values before they are awarded government contracts, and instead ask firms to prove they will help young people back into work.<\/p>\n Women should not feel pressurised into experiencing an \u201cideal birth\u201d, the new health secretary, Yvette Cooper, has said, promising a root-and-branch reform of standards after several damning maternity scandals.<\/p>\n An official investigation has been launched into charities in England and Wales donating funds to illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine.<\/p>\n Andy Burnham has inherited a Labour membership that is sceptical about increased welfare spending, supportive of higher defence spending, and ranks the climate crisis as one of the country\u2019s biggest challenges, according to new polling.<\/p>\n BP\u2019s chief executive has urged Andy Burnham to make use of the UK\u2019s oil and gas resources even as the oil company prepares to sell its North Sea business after 60 years in the ageing basin.<\/p>\n The Conservative party leader, Kemi Badenoch, has defended the selection of a former neo-Nazi activist<\/a> as a candidate for a local election in Somerset despite him being jailed in 2016 after he was convicted of racially aggravated harassment of the former Labour MP Luciana Berger.<\/p>\n Pupils in Scotland\u2019s schools received their exam results this morning, with exam pass rates at all levels having risen this year, including a record number of National 5 passes.<\/p>\n