Howard League Blog
Informal comment from our Chief Executive, Andrea Coomber KC (Hon.), and other contributors.
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My life’s work, my mission, has been at the Howard League
The Howard League is a special organisation; it has always held a central place in the political and justice landscape of the country. We contribute to the public discourse on the most important issues facing a government – how to keep people safe and how to respond to challenges to public order.  Read more
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The crime that most of us experience, but no one is talking about
It seems that the two main political parties have once again descended into a public spat about whose punishment is bigger.  Read more
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There can be no doubt that an enduring racism disadvantages children in the criminal justice system
Media coverage trailing today's report by Downing Street's Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities quote the conclusion that claims of institutional racism are 'not borne out by the evidence'.  Read more
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An evidence-free punishment Bill that will do nothing to protect women
There has been a lot of public concern about the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill whose second reading is in the Commons today.  Read more
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Mothers in prison
I am a mother. I have spent a lot of time in prisons and I know prison is no place for mothers. On Mothers’ Day, I am asking you to think about mothers in prison.  Read more
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Long Covid in prison
We are all aware that contracting Covid can have devastating effects and I know two people who have been suffering from ‘long Covid’ that has laid them out for almost a year. Health services are only just beginning to investigate the many different symptoms and what treatments might be useful.  Read more
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Add your voice to the Stop Building Women’s Prisons campaign
The response to our call for action to put a stop to building more women’s prisons has been overwhelming – thank you everyone. More than 100 MPs have been emailed and many of them by several constituents.  Read more
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Stop building women’s prisons
The government has announced that it is to increase the number of prison cells for women by 500. This is despite the number of women in prison falling and there now being 591 fewer women in prison than at this time last year.  Read more
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The new lockdown announcement will bring desolation to prisons
The last ten months have been extremely difficult for all of us, and my heart goes out to the families who have lost a loved one. It has, of course, been particularly awful for prisoners and challenging for prison staff.  Read more
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A decade of success that has benefitted hundreds of thousands of children
One of the Howard League successes I am most proud of is the work with police to reduce child arrests. When a decade ago we discovered that police were carrying out a third of a million child arrests a year, it was so shocking that we decided to act.  Read more
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