Tories accused of ‘unforgivable lack of urgency’ to improve support for rape survivors
Labour has accused the government of displaying an “unforgivable lack of urgency” in tackling the needs of rape victims and implementing crucial recommendations made by two scathing reports.
Analysis by the party shows that several “immediate” recommendations from the Criminal Justice Joint Inspectorates (CJJI) have been left unfulfilled.
The CJJI conducted two comprehensive reports, one in July 2021 and the other in February 2022, focusing on the treatment of rape victims by the police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
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The reports found that the criminal justice system was failing victims of rape and widespread reform is needed to build trust and secure justice.
Labour said that 18 months on from delivery of those reports, “ministers have yet to lift a finger on most of their recommendations”.
They pointed to six recommendations where the CJJI called for “immediate action” to be taken.
These include establishing specialist rape offence courts to help with the backlog of cases, and a consultation on creating a commissioner for rape and sexual offences.
Labour said the Conservative government had also failed to publish sufficient data on the use of special measures in rape cases, including the use of pre-recorded video evidence for victims.
The government has championed this as a tool for improving the experience of rape survivors when they are cross-examined, but Labour claims it is being “drastically under-used”.
As well as this, the collaborative use of bad character applications in rape cases, often crucial in securing a conviction, and providing victims with the opportunity to make a personal statement had not been acted on.
Shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry said: “At a time when we have a record backlog for rape cases going through our court system, ministers should be doing everything possible to support the victims of those attacks, and help them with the trauma they are facing.
Labour’s Emily Thornberry
“Instead, their response to the recommendations from the Joint Inspectorate shows an inexplicable lack of focus and an unforgivable lack of urgency.
“The fact is that only a change of government will deliver the action we need.”
A report this year found victims of rape and sexual assault are waiting more than two years for their cases to be heard.
Barristers have previously told Sky News that the criminal justice system is “about to crack”, with a shortage of barristers, judges and court room hindering efforts to clear the crown courts backlog.
The state of the justice system is expected to be a dominant issue at the next general election, with both major parties seeking to sell themselves as the party of law and order.
Ms Thornberry pointed to a Labour pledge to put specialist rape courtrooms in every Crown Court in England and Wales, and to halve violence against women and girls within 10 years of taking office.
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Justice Sec: Those who are convicted of rape are getting sentenced to on average 30% longer in prison than in 2010
But Home Office minister Sarah Dines hit back saying that Labour “have voted against every tougher sentence we have brought in”.
She claimed that when he was head of the CPS Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer “oversaw a huge drop in the number of sexual offences which were prosecuted and Thornberry criticised his ‘backsliding'”.
Ms Dines was referencing a critical letter the Labour MP sent in 2012 to then director of public prosecutions Sir Keir and then-attorney general Dominic Grieve amid changes to guidance on specialist barristers and rape prosecutions.
In that letter, she condemned the government’s decision to “slash the Crown Prosecution Service’s budget by 25% over the course of the parliament”, which she said had resulted in victims not getting the necessary legal support.
Ms Dines added: “Conservative governments have increased convictions, increased sentences, reformed our justice system and quadrupled funding to better support victims – making sure that the full force of the law is brought to bear to protect women and girls.”
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Sir Keir Starmer vows to defend budget decisions ‘all day long’ as farmers slam ‘disrespectful’ PM
Sir Keir Starmer has said he will defend the decisions made in the budget “all day long” amid anger from farmers over inheritance tax changes.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced last month in her key speech that from April 2026, farms worth more than £1m will face an inheritance tax rate of 20%, rather than the standard 40% applied to other land and property.
The announcement has sparked anger among farmers who argue this will mean higher food prices, lower food production and having to sell off land to pay for the tax.
Sir Keir defended the budget as he gave his first speech as prime minister at the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno, North Wales, where farmers have been holding a tractor protest outside.
Sir Keir admitted: “We’ve taken some extremely tough decisions on tax.”
He said: “I will defend facing up to the harsh light of fiscal reality. I will defend the tough decisions that were necessary to stabilise our economy.
“And I will defend protecting the payslips of working people, fixing the foundations of our economy, and investing in the future of Britain and the future of Wales. Finally, turning the page on austerity once and for all.”
He also said the budget allocation for Wales was a “record figure” – some £21bn for next year – an extra £1.7bn through the Barnett Formula, as he hailed a “path of change” with Labour governments in Wales and Westminster.
And he confirmed a £160m investment zone in Wrexham and Flintshire will be going live in 2025.
‘PM should have addressed the protesters’
Among the hundreds of farmers demonstrating was Gareth Wyn Jones, who told Sky News it was “disrespectful” that the prime minister did not mention farmers in his speech.
He said “so many people have come here to air their frustrations. He (Starmer) had an opportunity to address the crowd. Even if he was booed he should have been man enough to come out and talk to the people”.
He said farmers planned to deliver Sir Keir a letter which begins with “‘don’t bite the hand that feeds you”.
Farmers’ tractor protest outside the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno, North Wales
Mr Wyn Jones told Sky News the government was “destroying” an industry that was already struggling.
“They’re destroying an industry that’s already on its knees and struggling, absolutely struggling, mentally, emotionally and physically. We need government support not more hindrance so we can produce food to feed the nation.”
He said inheritance tax changes will result in farmers increasing the price of food: “The poorer people in society aren’t going to be able to afford good, healthy, nutritious British food, so we have to push this to government for them to understand that enough is enough, the farmers can’t take any more of what they’re throwing at us.”
Mr Wyn Jones disputed the government’s estimation that only 500 farming estates in the UK will be affected by the inheritance tax changes.
“Look, a lot of farmers in this country are in their 70s and 80s, they haven’t handed their farms down because that’s the way it’s always been, they’ve always known there was never going to be inheritance tax.”
On Friday, Sir Keir addressed farmers’ concerns, saying: “I know some farmers are anxious about the inheritance tax rules that we brought in two weeks ago.
“What I would say about that is, once you add the £1m for the farmland to the £1m that is exempt for your spouse, for most couples with a farm wanting to hand on to their children, it’s £3m before anybody pays a penny in inheritance tax.”
Read more:
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Farmers ‘could block ports and disrupt food supply’
Welsh farmer Gareth Wyn Jones
Ministers said the move will not affect small farms and is aimed at targeting wealthy landowners who buy up farmland to avoid paying inheritance tax.
But analysis this week said a typical family farm would have to put 159% of annual profits into paying the new inheritance tax every year for a decade and could have to sell 20% of their land.
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The Country and Land Business Association (CLA), which represents owners of rural land, property and businesses in England and Wales, found a typical 200-acre farm owned by one person with an expected profit of £27,300 would face a £435,000 inheritance tax bill.
The plan says families can spread the inheritance tax payments over 10 years, but the CLA found this would require an average farm to allocate 159% of its profits each year for a decade.
To pay that, successors could be forced to sell 20% of their land, the analysis found.
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