On Thursday, I joined the prime minister at a mosque in Solihull. We met with a community that was defiant, but also one that has spent the last week living in fear. I know their fear because I have felt it too. I know what it feels like to fear for your family and friends, no longer feeling safe in your own community because of who you are and the colour of your skin.
To those who joined the disgraceful thuggery of the past week, this government’s message is clear. If you break the law, you will feel the full force of it.
The police have worked to bring order to our streets in the face of unconscionable violence, with more than 100 injured in the line of duty. We owe them a debt of thanks. Their bravery will not be forgotten.
As lord chancellor and secretary of state for justice, I have been responsible for the response of the criminal justice system, working closely with partners across it. They include the prosecutors on standby across the country, bringing rapid charges against these thugs and hooligans.
They also include the independent judiciary, who have ensured justice is swift and true. Within a week, we have seen criminals sent down to multi-year jail terms. Where they have gone, many more will follow. There are now more than 100 people in our prisons, on remand, awaiting a trial or sentence.
At times like this, justice must not only be done, it must also be seen to be done. We must show that for every action, there is a reaction. Crimes must lead, unerringly, to punishment.
The swiftness of our courts has been essential to this. Judges have handed down sentences within days of an arrest. They have even chosen to broadcast their sentencing remarks live, from Liverpool crown court on Thursday and Leeds crown court on Friday – a decision I welcome wholeheartedly. They offer a lesson to those who feel tempted by violence again. Justice will find you. You will feel the full force of the law.
Within the Ministry of Justice, we have moved fast to ensure there is a prison cell waiting for all those sent into custody by the courts. That has seen us bring forward more than 500 prison places, with our staff working through day and night to do so.
The justice system has shown it can rise to this challenge. Should further criminality and disorder ensue, we will continue to deliver justice, until the last offender languishes in one of our jails.
But we must make no mistake. Rising to this challenge has been made harder by doing so within the justice system we inherited from the Conservatives.
Because of their failure, we have record crown court backlogs. We were left with prisons so close to overflowing that we had no choice but to release some prisoners – those serving sentences that are not seriously violent or sexual in nature – a few weeks or months early.
The impact of these days of disorder will be felt for months and years to come. They make the job of rebuilding the justice system harder.
They also offer a sobering reminder of how much worse things might have been had this government not acted fast, a few weeks ago, to address the crisis in our criminal justice system before it was too late.
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The scale of the challenge ahead of us must not lessen our resolve. Amid the darkness of recent days, I have taken heart from the many moments across the country that reveal the true face of Britain.
Where some have stoked division, others have sought to reduce the tension. Where some have sought to destroy, others have rebuilt what was torn down. I think particularly here of the people of Southport, a town in trauma. After the far-right thugs who descended on their town had fled, ordinary people came out and relaid the wall of the local mosque, just hours after it had been knocked it down, using the very same bricks that had been hurled through its windows.
In Solihull on Thursday, the prime minister and I heard tales of fear, but also found hope in the resilience of those who came and talked to us. As we set about addressing the great challenges our country faces, not least within our justice system, that is the inspiration I choose to take once these dark days of disorder are behind us.
Until that time, should anyone dare forget it, the message from this government and from the entire criminal justice system is clear: if you stoke fear, or take part in violence, the full force of the law will be brought against you. Justice will be done.
Shabana Mahmood MP is lord chancellor and secretary of state for justice
