Reforms designed to ‘restore trust’ in the criminal justice system will be proposed in a government report this week, including tougher community punishments.

The report, drawn up by Louise McCasey, former head of the government’s ‘Respec, bro’ Unit, has the blessing of Home Secretary, Jacqui McSmith, but some ministers close to Gordon McBroon say it is excessively punitive towards the young and will play into Tory hands and their talk of “a broken society”.

Among the more striking measures proposed:

· People serving community sentences should be forced to wear visible jackets (see picture) identifying that they are being punished for making the law an ass, and must complete their sentences without the use of Latin in a public place.

· The administration of the punishment system should be removed from the Probation Service and contracted out to an organisation known as the ‘Bullingdon Club’ – a group well-qualified to recognise offensive behaviour.

· The possibility of publishing “conviction politics posters”, showing people who have been found guilty of crimes against the people.

· The appointment of a Public Commissioner to represent victims of crime.

· Home Office ministers should no longer be responsible for publishing crime statistics, in order to restore their credibility with the public. (What credibility? – Ed.)

· Police community support officers should have powers to detain and to issue fixed penalty notices for disorder.

Minister McCasey will propose that community punishment is no longer termed “unpaid work”, but instead “community payback”. She believes the Probation Service is primarily concerned with rehabilitation rather than punishment, and she therefore wants lots of punishment, which will be contracted out to a new organisation. (See Bullingdon Club, above).

We at The British Citizen think these measures are unlikely to deter offenders, and may indeed inspire them to form a political party and run for government. Write to your MP now and say ‘NO’!

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