Starmer: State of criminal justice system under Tories a “stain on our country”

Keir Starmer has condemned the state of the criminal justice system under the Tories as a “stain on our country” after analysis found that the number of rape survivors dropping their case has more than doubled since 2015.

Speaking today ahead of a meeting with charities supporting victims of violence against women and girls, the Labour leader reiterated his party’s pledge to establish specialist rape courts to fast-track cases through the system.

According to Labour analysis of Home Office data, the victim drop-out rate for rape more than doubled in seven years – from 19.7% in 2015 to 41.6% in 2022.

Starmer said: “The state of the criminal justice system under the Tories amounts to a national scandal. It will rightfully be viewed by victims as a stain on our country. As director of public prosecutions, I changed the service so survivors’ bravery was supported and the system got them the justice they needed and deserved.

“That’s why I’ve made it the national mission of a future Labour government to halve levels of violence against women and girls and increase confidence in the justice system to their highest levels.

“Labour will put victims back at the heart of the system. We’ll stop victims going through the harrowing experience of waiting months, sometimes years, for justice by opening specialist rape courts to fast-track cases.

“We’ll put more police on our streets and increase the number of prosecutors to put violent rapists and killers behind bars quickly. Protecting the public and making our streets safe will drive my Labour government.”

Starmer declared in a speech last month that “fighting crime is a Labour cause”, setting out the party’s plan to tackle crime, which includes a pledge to halve levels of violence against women and girls.

Outlining the second of Labour’s national ‘missions‘ that will form the basis of the party’s next manifesto, the Labour leader attacked the government’s record on crime, accusing ministers of “complacency on another level”.

Yvette Cooper has previously set out Labour’s plans to establish a specialist rape unit in every police force in England and Wales and to put domestic abuse experts into 999 control rooms.

The Shadow Home Secretary argued earlier this year that rape victims are being “systematically let down” by the government after it was revealed that rape and other sexual offences reported to the police were at their highest level on record.

According to data published by the Office for National Statistics, sexual offences recorded by the police were at their highest level on record in the year ending September 2022 – at 199,021. The statistics revealed that 35% of all sexual offences were rape offences, with a total of 70,633 cases recorded.

Crime outcomes data released by the Home Office revealed that just 1.6% of recorded rapes in the same timeframe resulted in a suspect being charged. For all sexual offences, the figure was 3.2%.

The Commons home affairs committee concluded in a report in April last year that charging, prosecution and conviction levels for rape remain “shamefully low”. Its report argued that public confidence in the ability of the criminal justice system to handle cases is at “what could be its lowest point”.

Commenting following the report’s publication, committee chair and Labour MP Diana Johnson said: “The collapse in the number of prosecutions for rape and sexual offences over the last five years is truly shocking and completely unacceptable.

“While it is clear that significant effort is being put in to reversing this decline across the criminal justice system, there is much further to go. Thousands of victims are failing to get the justice they deserve, and this has to stop.”