I’ve just been in the House of Commons listening to David Lammy’s response to an urgent question about the accidental release of the convicted Hadush Kebatu over the weekend. Here are five things we learned from his parliamentary showdown with shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick.
First: There will be an independent investigation. This was the main news from Lammy’s statement. He said that it would be led by Dame Lynne Owens, a former deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and a former director general of the National Crime Agency. It will report back in eight weeks, Lammy said, having finalised the arrangement with Owens in an exchange this morning. Lammy likened it to previous independent investigations into the escape of Daniel Khalife from Wandsworth and the attack on prison officers by a terrorist at HMP Frankland earlier this year.
Second: Labour loves prisons. That was Lammy’s boast as he defended the government’s record so far. He said that on the current trajectory “more people will be in prison at the end of this parliament than there has ever been before.” It was quite interesting to hear the Justice Secretary boasting about this while, a few yards to my left in the visitors’ gallery of the Commons I could see the prisons minister, Lord Timpson, looking on (he can’t sit in the Commons chamber proper because he’s not an MP). Timpson has long been an advocate of rehabilitation in the community. His appointment by Keir Starmer last July was seen as a sign of a bold new approach to criminal justice. Perhaps not.
Third: It’s still all the Tories’ fault. Yes, unsurprisingly, Lammy did not miss any opportunity to lacerate the Conservatives for their poor record on prisons. He drew attention to the rise in the number of accidental early releases over the last years of the Conservative administration. While Jenrick tried to blame this farce at HMP Chelmsford on Labour, the justice minister Sarah Sackman shouted from the government front bench, “your prison crisis, your hotels!” When Lammy said releases in error were a result of the Conservatives’ stint in government, the opposition benches roared. Alex Davies-Jones, another justice minister, told them from a sedentary position: “the truth hurts”.
Fourth: Jenrick has a self-awareness blindspot. The shadow justice secretary stood up to tear chunks out of Lammy following his statement but it didn’t go quite to plan. Jenrick chose to attack the deputy PM for delivering insincere, performative outrage. He said that his “performance” was “Bafta-worthy”. Lammy laughed and said “thank you” as fellow Labour MPs guffawed “you can talk” at the shadow cabinet’s favourite political shapeshifter.
Fifth: Lammy is enjoying himself. Despite receiving what was interpreted by some as a gentle demotion in the reshuffle (Foreign Secretary down to Justice Secretary combined with DPM), Lammy seems to be having a good time in his new role. When Jenrick called him “Calamity Lammy” he threw back his head with laughter and seemed unfazed by the various attacks. In a particularly eccentric twist he said of Jenrick, “if he was made of chocolate, he would lick himself”, one of his mother’s favourite idiom for vain people.
[Further reading: You won’t believe Rishi Sunak’s advice for Rachel Reeves]
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