Former Conservative leader rails against “farcical” system

Make Justice Work in the New Statesman.

“Prison sentences lasting less than two months should be abolished and replaced by longer, tougher community order penalties, Iain Duncan Smith has said.

In a speech to be given on Monday outlining a revamp of the justice system, he calls short-term sentences “farcical” as there is no evidence they reformed persistent petty criminals. He claimed they too often substituted for community orders that were “toothless” in their current incarnations…“