Bishop attacks Conservative Leader’s Crime Policy

The Bishop of Birmingham, Rev John Sentamu has launched an attack on Michael Howard, the Conservative Leader for his new policy statement on criminal justice.

Mr Howard had said that he wanted to get rid of the “political correctness” of police officers issuing receipts to the public when they were stopped and searched.

Sentamu was one of the leading advisors to the Stephen Lawrence inquiry panel in 1999 during the investigations into his death. The Bishop has spoken out before and called for there to be more consideration given to criminal justice by policy-makers in their restorative approach, which he wanted to focus more on the correcting of the relationship between a victim and offender, rather than simply on punishment.

Sentamu is Ugandan-born, and was the first black bishop in the UK to take charge of an Anglican diocese when he became the Bishop of Birmingham two years ago. He has also previously been a suffragan Bishop in Stepney in East London.

The Bishop has emphasised the importance of those who have been given positions of authority such as the police, using their powers to act professionally, appropriately and legally:

“In response to the 9/11 disaster David Blunkett rightly gave the police new stop and search powers to deal with terrorism. At the time he described them as "reasonable and proportionate". Not surprisingly the police used those new powers, but no sooner had they done so the Government then instigated an inquiry into their use. Politicians in Whitehall need to stop second guessing the police at every turn,” said the Bishop.