ACTIVIST judges stopping illegal migrants being kicked out of Britain are like biased “referees” helping the other side, Robert Jenrick blasted yesterday.
The Shadow Justice Secretary pledged the Tories would abolish immigration tribunals, scrap the quango that appoints judges, and ban political activists from donning the wig ever again.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick pledged to ensure that activist judges of any political hue won’t be allowed to don the wig again if the Tories return to power[/caption]
Labour’s Justice Secretary David Lammy hit back in favour of the judges, accusing Mr Jenrick of ‘trampling on the British values he claims to defend’[/caption]
He claimed he had uncovered dozens of judges with ties to open borders charities who “take to social media to broadcast their views” and “spent their careers fighting to keep illegal migrants in this country”.
Brandishing a judge’s wig, Mr Jenrick told Tory conference in Manchester: “It’s like finding out halfway through a football match that the referee is a season ticket holder for the other side.
“The public rightly ask, how independent are they?
“They dishonour generations of independent jurists who came before them and undermine the British people’s trust in the law itself.”
He pledged to put ministers back in charge of judicial appointment, declaring: “We will reverse the constitutional vandalism of Tony Blair and New Labour.
“The Lord Chancellor will once again appoint the judges. No more quangos.
“And they will be instructed to never permit activists of any political hue to don the wig, ever again.”
Justice Secretary David Lammy hit back, accusing Mr Jenrick of “trampling on the British values he claims to defend”.
He said: “The independence of judges from politicians is not optional. It is the cornerstone of British democracy.
“When politicians start deciding which judges can stay or go, that is democratic backsliding and Robert Jenrick knows it.”
Meanwhile, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philip announced a raft of policies around crime and policing, including a promise to hire 10,000 more police officers.
And he vowed to put an end to “woke nonsense” in policing by scrapping the “absurd”
anti-racism commitment plan published by the College of Policing and the Police Chiefs’ Council.
He said: “(The plan) literally says policing should not be colour blind. Let me be clear, yes, it should.
“Treating racial groups differently to engineer the same arrest rate, even if the offending rates are different, is immoral, plain wrong. People should stand equal before the law. It is that simple.
