Rishi Sunak’s king’s speech to include hardline criminal justice measures
The Guardian says Rishi Sunak’s first king’s speech will include a series of hardline criminal justice measures promising tougher sentences for rapists and killers in the run-up to a general election.
With crime and punishment a major point of contention with Keir Starmer’s Labour, the prime minister will confirm the introduction of a new sentencing bill under which murderers whose crimes involved sadistic or sexual conduct will face spending the rest of their lives in jail.
The change in the law will mean that a whole-life order must be handed down in certain cases, with judges able to choose not to impose one only in exceptional circumstances.
Criminals who commit rape and other serious sexual offences will spend every day of their sentence behind bars, the government will say, up from 50% of their sentence when the government came to power in 2010.
