NEW Lawyers, especially barristers, have dominated the debate about plans to curb jury trials, skewing the narrative.
Their views are important - but we should listen to victims & others too.
My thoughts on the task facing David Lammy to cut the Crown Court backlog:
spectator.com/article/can-...
NEW Lawyers, especially barristers, have dominated the debate about plans to curb jury trials, skewing the narrative.
Their views are important - but we should listen to victims & others too.
My thoughts on the task facing David Lammy to cut the Crown Court backlog:
spectator.com/article/can-...
NEW Palestine Action - what does the court ruling mean & where does the Govt go from here?
I discuss this with Tim Owen on Double Jeopardy...
...plus Shabana Mahmood's police reforms..
...& questions Antonia Romeo must answer about her leadership at the MoJ
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/d...
NEW UK's lax controls on car registration are making it easy for organised criminals & drug dealers to evade detection...
...through the use of 'ghost' number plates - invisible to roadside police ANPR cameras.
My latest, for the Telegraph
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/02...
NEW UK's lax controls on car registration are making it easy for organised criminals & drug dealers to evade detection...
...through the use of 'ghost' number plates - invisible to roadside police ANPR cameras.
My latest, for the Telegraph
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/02...
Significant & welcome.
Being caught with a knife must be a ‘reachable’ moment when swift & meaningful investigation & action is taken.
Current practice across England/Wales is patchy & slow.
Also good to see continued investment in Turnaround project:
www.gov.uk/government/n...
NEW Who will be the UK's most powerful police officer?
The Commissioner of the new National Police Service ought to be in post by the summer, to prepare for its launch - which means the selection process should start now.
I've canvassed view for the Telegraph:
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/02...
The number of homicides over the past 20 years:
Homicides Oct 24-Sep 25 were 7% down on previous year.
ONS says this was due to 23% fall in fatal stabbings (227 to 174).
Homicide rate: 8.1 per 1 million people.
This is the lowest for over half a century, since 1973: 8 per 1 million.
Extraordinary figures require analysis: what's going right?
At 499, the number of homicides - murder & manslaughter - is the lowest for 43 years.
Calendar year 1983: 482 crimes are logged as "currently recorded" as homicide.
For offences "initially recorded" as homicide, you have to go back to 1977 for a figure below 499 (484).
Source: ONS
BREAKING The number of homicides in England and Wales has fallen to 499 - the lowest level for four decades.
From Oct 24 -Sep 25 there were also falls in knife crime and gun crimes, recorded by police.
But shop theft rose to 519,381 offences.
Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Here are the findings of the review of the legal tests that has given rise to this decision:
www.gov.uk/government/p...
A bold but sensible move by the IOPC watchdog.
.
The murder prosecution should not have been brought.
It is hard to see what's to be gained by a gross misconduct hearing.
IOPC statement:
BREAKING Internal disciplinary proceedings against Met Police
officer who shot dead Chris Kaba in South London are "paused".
IOPC watchdog says it will wait for legal changes relating to use of force before deciding if to continue.
The officer, Sgt Martyn Blake, was cleared of murder by a jury.
BREAKING The Home Secretary has announced a radical set of proposals for police reform in England and Wales.
This is an ambitious package that has the potential to transform the way policing operates. The centrepiece is a mammoth new central body, the National Police Service.
Here's my summary:
NEW So much in the Government White Paper on policing, to be published this afternoon.
Here is a comprehensive summary of everything that has been announced:
Read Chapter 8, on how a Licence to Practise might work, in the Police Foundation report, authored by Rick Muir - now a policing adviser at Home Office:
www.police-foundation.org.uk/policingrevi...
In 2022, Police Foundation recommended a Licence to Practise, to be renewed every 5 years "subject to an officer demonstrating professional development... "
If an officer failed to show this, after mentoring, "they would have their licence removed" - therefore, sacked.
NEW A Licence to Practise to be introduced for police officers, under Home Office plans in its White Paper.
Officers will have to show they have the necessary skills, qualifications & training - or face dismissal. Process is used for doctors & lawyers.
A seismic change that won’t be welcomed by all
NEW The biggest police reform package for 50 years is days away.
The 43-force model is being ditched, so are PCCs, & the Home Office is taking back control….
Read - for free - everything you need to know about the Police Reform White Paper:
www.dannyshaw.net/post/police-...
NEW The biggest police reform package for 50 years is days away.
The 43-force model is being ditched, so are PCCs, & the Home Office is taking back control….
Read - for free - everything you need to know about the Police Reform White Paper:
www.dannyshaw.net/post/police-...
Guildford is understood to be going in the wider interests of the police force he leads, following the bungled handling of the Macaabi Tel Aviv - Aston Villa match. A press conference has been scheduled for 4pm.
BREAKING. Craig Guildford is to retire from policing. A statement is expected soon. He is the first chief constable to quit after pressure from the Home Secretary since 2005, when Humberside's chief David Westwood departed after David Blunkett called on him to be fired after the Bichard Report
The timeline for this scandal is set out in a report from Public Accounts Committee which describes it as a “needless waste of taxpayers’ money”.
Where is the accountability for those who signed off on this?
Read the report and weep:
publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5901/cm...
NEW ‘Scandal’. A word to be used sparingly - but this is it.
Ministry of Justice is spending over £100 million on a prison that can’t hold prisoners - Dartmoor.
Key decisions taken in March 2022. Justice Secretary was Dominic Raab & Permanent Secretary Antonia Romeo, now at the Home Office…
NEW Serious crimes by offenders on probation UP 13%.
2024/5: 872 serious further offences including murders & rapes.
Figures highlight risk assessment & information-sharing failings of probation in England & Wales, with services under-staffed.
Details here:
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/12...
NEW What Vicki Crawford's legal ordeal tells us about the need to get record court backlogs down.
My analysis of David Lammy's plans for jury reform & why radical action *is* needed so that victims don't have to wait years for their day in court.
For the i-paper:
It’s on Chat GBT…
Here’s one way Rachel Reeves can save money: get the Home Office to restructure the £19.9 billion police service in England & Wales.
There are too many forces, too many overlapping layers, too much red tape.
My thoughts for the Spectator :
www.spectator.co.uk/writer/danny...
NEW The police service of England & Wales needs shaking up. Half of the 43 forces are struggling financially; some are planning deep cuts. Yet, inefficiencies are baked into the structure of policing - the time for mergers is now.
My thoughts for the Spectator:
www.spectator.co.uk/article/how-...
