The Ballad of Two Tier Keir

The separation of powers is under attack

Thanks to an act titled "The Pensions Increase (Pension Scheme for Keir Starmer QC) Regulations 2013", Keir Starmer is exempt from paying tax on pensions savings over £1m, while his brother, who suffered from learning disabilities, spent most of his life "pretty well penniless".

If there is a ‘two tier’ justice system, it is benefitting Keir Starmer and his cabinet foremost. Rachel Reeves and her homemade cheese sandwiches may be sent packing if the noise gets too much, after further revelations of her snuffling in the trough.

That’s on top of the clothes, properties and sundries that her fellow cabinet ministers have been accused of accepting.

However there is another row over ‘two tier’ justice brewing. Following the Sentencing Council's newly published guidelines, the Shadow Justice Secretary, Robert Jenrick claims there is a case of “blatant bias against Christians and straight white men”.

This is news to black and brown Muslims, Hindus, Christians and Sikhs.

Numerous reports have concluded that a bias exists, but not against white men. According to the Centre for Crime and Justice studies:

The Probation Inspectorate in a 2021 report: A telling statistic it highlighted at the time was that 27 percent of prisoners were ‘non-white’ compared to 14 percent in the general population of England and Wales.

David Lammy's review of the Criminal justice system in 2017 concluded that:

Black, Asian and Minority ethnic youth in the criminal justice system [..] are more likely to be tried in the Crown Court than their White equivalents, and BAME defendants are more likely than White defendants to receive prison sentences for certain crimes.’

And that racial disparities were due to “bias”, including “overt discrimination

Yet as of Thursday even the Equalities Watchdog has weighed in saying “Two-tier” sentencing rules may be discriminatory against white males.