The Sentencing Council for England and Wales has unveiled new guidelines that institutionalize racial and gender bias in the UK’s legal system. Effective April 1, 2025, the guidelines prioritize pre-sentence reports, which are expected to lead to more lenient sentences for non-white, non- Christian, and non-male offenders. This shift, critics argue, effectively creates a two-tier justice system, where white males face harsher penalties while others benefit from systemic leniency.
The guidelines, rooted in identity politics, have drawn sharp criticism from across the political spectrum. Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has publicly expressed her displeasure, but her opposition is viewed with skepticism given the Labour government’s historical support for similar policies. The revised guidelines are based on the 2017 Lammy Review, which examined racial disparities in the criminal justice system. However, critics argue that the new rules go beyond addressing disparities, instead embedding bias into the legal framework.