Vera Baird DBE KC

Chair Criminal Cases Review Commission. Member Women’s Justice Bd.
Ex Victims’ Commissioner, Solicitor Gen & PCC. Fellow St Hilda’s Oxford. Writer. Labour Party

Tag: Labour

  • Labour Conference 2018 Blog.

    It was great to be at Labour Party conference in Liverpool – it’s always good to catch up with old friends, listen to debate and to see CLP delegates from across the country debating Labour Party policy and helping influence our party manifesto that may be needed sooner, rather than later.

    Conference once again shows us why we need a Labour government (not just to clean up the mess the Prime Minister is making of Brexit), the Tories are failing hard working families, real wages are still lower than what they were in 2010 and millions of working families are set to be worse off under Universal Credit. When in government Labour worked hard to end child poverty, since 2010 it has risen by over four million and the Institute for Fiscal Studies projects it will rise by a further million by the end of this Parliament.

    We know it is Labour that will tackle these issues head on, it’s our party that will support work and create a social security system for the many, not the few. The next Labour government will end austerity and introduce a Real Living Wage of £10 an hour by 2020. Labour will pause and fix universal credit and implement a new Child Poverty Strategy. Labour will also lift the Tories’ freeze on social security support which is penalising families, to ensure people get the support they need.

    Conference clearly heard Jeremy’s commitment to rebuild our public services: Years of austerity and privatisation have left our public services in crisis. Labour will rebuild our public services with new investment and properly paid staff. Labour will increase investment in the NHS and social care to tackle the crises caused by the Conservatives. Our party will stop the cuts to school budgets with a real terms increase in funding, introduce universal free school meals for primary school children and get class sizes down to under 30 for all 5, 6 and 7 year olds.

    Right across conference I heard people commenting on these ideas, there was a buzz in fringe meetings about wanting the next general election to be sooner rather than later – as if we get the keys to number 10, we can sort the mess that Tories have created, the next Labour government has committed to putting an extra 10,000 police officers back on the streets in England and Wales. We must never underestimate the Tories, they crave power – but for all the wrong reasons. When a General Election is called, I will be standing ready with you to campaign once again in constituencies across Northumberland and Tyne and Wear, to show the difference our hard working Labour MPs makes. Our members, councillors and trade unionists are our greatest strength, the Shadow Foreign Secretary is on standby for the election to be called by the end of the year – if it is, we must do everything we can to rebuild and improve our public services and only Labour will deliver that change to benefit communities across our region and beyond.

  • Brexit needs the best deal possible, not a no deal!

    As the dark nights start to draw in, I think the Prime Minister will be having many dark days – wondering how to control her rebels over Brexit. The government are making a monumental hash up of this process, it is stumbling from crisis to crisis and as they do this they are failing to see the bigger picture and the damage they are doing to communities across our region.

    In relation to policing, the Home Secretary needs to get a grip and start ensuring the various vital cooperation tools / mechanisms enabling the UK and the EU police forces to work together to prevent and tackle crime and threats to regional and national security are in place. He also needs to address the potential impact on the future incompatibility between EU and UK laws and the rights the UK could lose by falling out of the EU’s jurisdiction and legal framework. We need continued use of shared law enforcement databases and EU arrest warrants which have assisted Northumbria Police on many occasions, nationally last year 1,735 arrests were made in the UK and more than 10,000 people have been extradited since 2004. In 2017 the Schengen Information System (SIS) which is a European database used by the police to search for terrorist suspects, missing people and to check vehicle registrations and passport details was checked nearly 540 million times by police officers in the UK – it’s imperative that the Home Secretary and his department ensure that these services are still available to Northumbria Police after March 2019. Northumbria Police plays a vital role in national security and the safety of the public in our region and we can’t allow the good work police officers and staff undertake be put in jeopardy if the government doesn’t get its act together to ensure detailed arrangements are in place – we work with partners to tackle crime such as human trafficking and serious organised crimes and police officers need the tools to get the job done, not Boris and his cronies fighting for the next media headline.

    Theresa May now needs to move away from accepting a possible “no deal” outcome on Brexit, as this will cause chaos and confusion for policing and security services. She has a duty to deliver the best deal possible that will ensure the continued safety of residents. We are fast approaching March 2019 and policing needs considerable additional resources at a local and national level for policing to operate using non-EU services, and in all reality, whatever is put in place to deal with a no-deal outcome will be an inferior standard to what is already in place. It is hoped that the government and EU will have agreed terms for leaving by October – that’s very optimistic as there is a great more deal work to be done.

    I agree fully with Richard Martin, deputy assistant commissioner at the Metropolitan police and the NPCC lead on Brexit, when he said “it is in the interests of both sides to negotiate an arrangement that allows for continued close working, whether as part of existing mechanisms or negotiated alternatives. Without such arrangements, both UK police and EU member states will lose capabilities including identifying criminals and missing persons who cross our borders, detaining and swiftly surrendering suspects under EAWs, quickly identifying previous history of offending or the sharing biometric data”

    There is a job to be done, Theresa May needs to get on with it and I stand with other Labour Police and Crime Commissioners across England and Wales demanding it is done with the interests of safety and delivering effective policing running through the heart of any deal.

  • Tory “Summer of Discontent” – We need change NOW!

    The sun has certainly been blazing down – in the world of politics you could be forgiven for thinking this is Theresa May’s “Summer of Discontent” – she lost Boris from the Foreign Office, she lost David from the Brexit Office, her great plan for Brexit that she drew up at Chequers is now nigh on defunct and to add to her problems, she hosted Donald Trump and inflicted him on the Queen! There is a serious point to this – this government moves from crisis to crisis and is stumbling along at the behest of MPs like Jacob Rees Mogg, Tory politics at the moment reminds me of the final days of John Major’s government. We need to be on standby, I know the Labour Party is ready for whenever the General Election may be called, lets hope it is sooner rather than later.

    Towards the end of July the government announced it will raid the already under funded budgets of schools, hospitals, prisons, police services and armed forces for what amounts to a real terms pay cut for many of our public servants who work in them. The Tories continue to cut these services and the pay settlement that they announced will also mean further real terms pay cuts for our police officers, some teachers, doctors and dentists as inflation runs at 2.4%.

    The Government needs to get its act together when it comes to pay settlements – they need to be properly funded, Theresa May cannot expect me to raid what little reserves I hold for emergencies or headteachers to spend the full school budget with no room for contingencies. Let me say loud and clear, our police officers, police staff and all public servants deserve a pay rise and I want that to happen and the government needs to ensure they fund it by making the money available. The government have shown (again) that they don’t believe that officers are worthy of the recommendations of the independent pay review body, and the announcement is another real-terms cut to officers pay. I am annoyed that the Home Secretary is threatening yet more cutbacks to front line policing as he won’t pay for the increase.

    I will take this battle to the very heart of government, I will continue to do what ever I have to do to get the very best deal for our police officers and staff – however, on the past record of the Tory government I suspect not much will change. I had hoped that as the new Home Secretary’s brother is a senior police officer he knows the value of funding properly our police service.

    Our schools, prisons, hospitals and police have faced the brunt of Tory austerity, our public servants are over worked and under paid. Something has to change and I sincerley hope it will be a change of Prime Minister. Labour has committed to not accepting any pay deal that cuts the salaries of our public sector employees and starves the public services that we all rely upon of the funding they need. Labour’s manifesto at the last election pledged to end the cap and budgeted for above inflation pay increases for public sector workers. Under Labour, public sector pay will be set by genuinely independent pay review bodies or through collective bargaining.

    Our values are the right ones for our country, we need that General Electon to make it happen.

  • Election

    Postal votes have started to drop on doors across Tyne & Wear and Northumberland, I hope you will take a few moments to complete your ballot paper and give me your first preference vote.  If you aren\’t voting by post you can vote at the Polling Station on May 5th.

    You can find out more about my plans by clicking on to my Facebook page www.facebook.com/verabairdqc

    Vote Baird – Vote Labour.

  • “PAY UP” says Police & Crime Commissioner, Vera Baird QC.

    Northumbria’s Police & Crime Commissioner, Vera Baird has insisted that Conservative Chancellor, George Osborne must pay back over £1 million pound to Northumbria Police.

    Mr Osborne has been reprimanded by an official statistics watchdog – after he cut police funding for Northumbria despite promising not to.

    The Tories also used the council tax precept by planning a budget that included an assumption local residents in Northumbria would pay £5 a year more for their policing with no consultation with local people, police & crime commissioners or council leaders.

    PCC Vera Baird, said: “All of Osborne’s bravado last year was hot air – we knew at the time he had cut police budgets and this has been confirmed by the UK Statistics Authority. The government manipulated the figures, assumed a council tax increase of £5 to just maintain the services. The Police Grant that we receive from government is less, it’s wrong that the government forced the police to keep services at their current level by imposing a £5 increase with no consultation.”

    Here in Northumbria, police funding is made up of a grant from central government and the police precept element of the council tax. The government put their funding package together including a £5 increase. Forces then have money taken off them through “top slicing”, this is where money is used to pay for national schemes.

    Vera Baird added: “In relation to the Police Precept, it is normally the role of police & crime commissioners to determine an increase, if at all. This time the government put in place the £5 increase – if this amount had not been included, our police force would have received even less funding. Northumbria has also had £1.2 million directly removed and I want it back. I want this money to invest in policing to ensure we keep bobbies on the beat and that Northumbria remains one of the safest places in the country to live.”

    Vera Baird will be meeting the Shadow Home Secretary, Andy Burnham and the Shadow Policing Minister, Jack Dromey, to urge them to keep the pressure on the Chancellor , to get him to correct the record and find the extra money to honour his promise.

    Since 2010, Northumbria Police budget has been cut by the Tories and Lib Dems by more than £100 million, this has resulted in the force loosing 861 police officers and nearly 1000 police staff.

  • David Cameron a man of many words and little action

    David Cameron has today said that prison reform has been a “scandalous failure” for years and has pledged  to make it the “great progressive cause” of politics.  Ironically, the Prime Minister has expressed the same concerns nearly a decade ago when in 2007 he said that prison reform was one of the key planks of his “central mission”.

    Northumbria’s Police & Crime Commissioner, Vera Baird QC said “I’m very sceptical about what David Cameron has to say on prison reforn, he tends to re-hash his words every year and then deliver nothing.  The failures that he condemns are his own – since the Tories entered Downing Street in 2010 we have seen over stretched prison staff dealing with violence and overcrowding”.

    We have seen these problems first hand in our region.  Last year, HMP Northumberland was branded “shambolic” by campaign group the Howard League for Penal Reform, has seen massive staffing cuts and prison officers have raised concerns about safety over staff levels and growing unrest among inmates.  Staff levels dropped from 441 in 2010 to 270 in 2013.

    The former Chief Inspector for Prisons in England and Wales, Nick Hardwick, has told Cameron and his government that action needs to be taken. Hardwick made it clear to ministers that a 69% rise in self-inflicted deaths in jails is unacceptable in a civilised society and he warned that the public were being put at risk by a “political and policy failure in jails”.

    Since Hardwick took up his post in 2010, he has published a series of increasingly damning reports documenting the depth of the growing crisis inside jails in England and Wales. His reports have also highlighted the growing toll of prison suicides and a rising tide of violence behind bars.

    Vera Baird said “I commend Nick Hardwick for the issues he has raised over the years, if it had not been for his leadership things would be a lot worse than they already are.  There is no getting away from it, David Cameron should hang his head in shame.  Despite his promises, Cameron hasn’t tackled the drug abuse in prisons, he hasn’t tackled the problems that privatisation of prisons has caused  and he hasn’t tackled the violence, squalor and idleness that the Chief Inspector of prisons referred to in his Annual Report 2014-15”.

    Mrs Baird added “Nick Hardwick has tried his best to convince the government to take action, it’s a pity his findings fell on deaf ears.  Now is the time for Cameron and Gove to buck up and get this problem sorted.  Labour has long called for governors of successful prisons to be given greater autonomy and for prisons to become more rehabilitative – something the government is now suggesting, but given Cameron’s failures since 2007, I’m not confident that he will succeed”.

  • Ed Miliband’s New Year Message


    “I want to wish you a very Happy New Year, from my family to yours. This is the season for new beginnings and hopes for the future. And Britain is ready for a new beginning. Because I don’t have to tell you that all over our country today, there are people working harder and harder, but standing still: families struggling with bills that are growing faster than their wages; young people, taking on mountains of debt to get a proper education, only to find themselves with no job at the other end; and an NHS where people are waiting longer and longer to get the care they need.

    “It doesn’t have to be this way. As this New Year dawns, we have the chance to change direction; a chance to build a recovery for all of Britain; to fight for policies that actually honour and reward hard work; and hold the banks and energy companies accountable. We have the chance- all of us together- to fight for a new plan that cuts our deficit responsibly, without threatening our NHS or short changing our children and their future. This year, we have the power to bring about the change working families all over Britain need. This isn’t about idle dreams or empty promises. It\’s about a real, concrete plan: a plan for a recovery which reaches your kitchen table.

    “In the coming months, I look forward to sharing our ideas with you about how we raise wages, give our young people a proper chance to get on, set fair rules for immigration and rescue our NHS. None of this will be easy or instant. But it is possible if we run the country in a different way: with a different idea, a different plan: putting working people first. And I know we will be a better, stronger and more prosperous country for it. So this is a moment of possibility for Britain. We have it within our grasp not just to see out the old year but to see out the old ways of running the country. Can we do it? Of course we can.

    “This coming year, we mark the seventieth anniversary of the end of the second world war, when our parents and grandparents overcame the most daunting odds to rebuild. After the war, badly battered and deeply in debt, Britain rose again. We built the NHS, a modern welfare state, homes for people to live in and still dealt with our debts; we set the stage for a generation of progress for working people. Today’s challenges are different. But if we could walk through those fires, we surely can meet the problems of our time. We can build a country that works for everyday people. Change is possible if we reach for it. If you are one of the millions of people who think Britain can do a lot better, I am with you. I am with you and this year, together, we can bring about the change we need.”

    You can also watch it here – 

  • Leading Labour’s commitment to women at the next General Election – Northumbria’s Police & Crime Commissioner

    Vera Baird QC, Police & Crime Commissioner for Northumbria, will today release the findings of a report which will influence the next Labour Government’s agenda on delivering for women across the north east and United Kingdom.

    In 2011 the Labour Party asked Vera Baird to lead ‘Everywoman Safe Everywhere’ Commission and come up with recommendations for the next Labour Government. An interim report was produced in 2012 with the final report being published today (Wednesday, 10 December, 2014).

    The research covered many areas affecting women – from legal aid to services for victims of domestic violence.

    The report asks the next Labour Government to do more than just reverse the last five years of decline by putting tackling violence against women and girls at the heart of our modern welfare state.

    It proposes a statutory obligation on Government and local authorities to develop integrated domestic and sexual violence strategies and the establishment of a new Commissioner to tackle violence against women and girls, to drive their implementation and bring national standards of service to all.

    The report encourages reforming how services are commissioned, refocusing on the practical need for specialist women-centred services with a track record of success.

    Vera Baird said: “I was delighted to be asked by Yvette Cooper to lead this Commission, as it’s allowed me to put the changes we’ve implemented here in Northumbria on a national platform.

    “The work happening in our region can be used as a model of good practice by the next Labour Government. The main job for Ed Miliband and his team is to develop an integrated domestic and sexual violence strategy. If we get it right from day one of the next Labour Government we will change lives for a generation.”

    Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has already accepted one of the report’s recommendations for a new national refuge fund, to provide the safe places that women and children need and national Rape Support Funding on a three-year cycle, to give rape crisis centres real security.

    Vera Baird added: “The Shadow Home Secretary’s actions show how Labour take women’s issues seriously and we are committed to providing safe places for women and girls when they need it most.

    “The Commission’s recommendations are about fixing this issue, in all its myriad forms, including forced marriage, trafficking, slavery, harassment, honour crimes, FGM and prostitution; putting them at the heart of the modern public services that Ed Miliband’s Premiership will deliver. Next we should work on a strategy with the Department of Education, to prevent violence against women and girls in coming generations so we can also drive a lasting legacy of culture change.”

  • Ahead of the Autumn Statement – How Labour will make a difference,

     

    The mood of Britain last week was to enjoy “Black Friday” that became Black weekend as shoppers headed to stores and online to grab a bargain or two.

     

    Today could become “Black Wednesday” depending on what the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, will tell the House of Commons.  We already know this government has broken promise after promise, cut funding to our police service (since 2010, Northumbria’s budget has been cut by more than £80 million) and forgotten about our region. 

    The Tories came to power on a promise to balance the books by 2015  which they have broken. When Labour win the election in six months time, Ed Miliband and Ed Balls are set to inherit a large deficit – which they will address.  Income tax receipts across the Parliament are set to fall short of their 2010 expectations by more than £66 billion and receipts from National Insurance Contributions are a further £22.5 billion lower across the same period – less money in means less to spend on services such as police, schools, NHS and protecting our vulnerable people to name but a few.

    The last few years have been hard for families, real median wages for full time workers have fallen by more than £2000 since 2010.  In Northumbria, I have played a small part in improving the salaries of lower paid members of staff by introducing the Living Wage, all cleaning staff within Northumbria Police now benefit from an increase in pay of more than £1 per hour.  Prior to this the service was contracted out and the cleaners were on the minimum wage.  There are still more than 4.9 million workers earning less than the Living – this is something that must change in the next Parliament.

     

    We need a government that is going to support the 1.4 million people who are currently on zero-hours contracts – many of the people affected work regular and predictable hours but don’t benefit from sick and holiday pay.  I know that with Ed Miliband as Prime Minister, we will see zero hour contacts abolished.

     

    It will be interesting to see what George Osborne says in his Autumn statement, as he has to account why the Tory led Government has borrowed more in four and a half years than the last Labour government did in 13 years.  The Chancellor needs to explain why he has borrowed almost £4 billion more than he did in the same period last year. 

     

    Labour is clear that we need an economic plan that can earn our way to rising living standards for all.  I want the next Labour government to help families in Sunderland and Newcastle just as much as David Cameron has helped millionaires with their tax break in this Parliament.  I want Labour to be given the opportunity to build 200,000 new homes a year to help get first time buyers on the property ladder.

     

    Let’s help the next generation by creating more apprenticeships. Since I took up my post of Police & Crime Commissioner, my small office has been able to help boost the career of two young people by securing them apprentice opportunities.  Ed Balls has made no promises without saying where the money is coming from, the Labour Party manifesto will have no commitments paid for by additional borrowing.

     

    Labour will balance the book, I suspect George Osborne will shuffle a few pages today – he has failed to deliver over the last four years, he has forgotten the North East.  I know it will take a Labour Government to make the changes happen that we want to see.

     

  • Is this Government Serious about protecting victims?

    Is this Government serious about protecting victims? – Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Vera Baird

    This week Justice Secretary Chris Grayling MP provided the House of Commons with further information about the Government\’s document \’Our Commitment to Victims\’.

    In a Written Ministerial Statement Mr Grayling believes the proposed laws will see victims kept informed about their case and courts will allow most to provide a personal impact statement. 

    Vera Baird said: \”What the Justice Secretary has announced is a few add ons to the Victims\’ Code – but nothing of real substance.

    \”A lot of what is mentioned in the Written Ministerial Statement is already happening, an example being that victim impact statements will become law, however they have already proved their worth without legislation. We saw the benefits of impact statements in the Rolf Harris case. These statements allow the courts to know how victims have been affected by a crime and for the perpetrator to hear how their actions can ruin lives.\”

    Mrs Baird added: \”Let’s be absolutely clear, Chris Grayling is the Secretary of State who has cut compensation to victims to the bone and scrapped legal aid for victims of sexual and domestic abuse.

    \”It\’s a shocking indictment of this Government’s policies for victims that two-thirds of domestic violence victims have been left with no legal aid to safeguard families against violent partners.  This is a Government that tells us they take seriously the need to address domestic violence – then they remove the very support that is needed.\”

    The Government has published updates and provided further information, but they have avoided the question about why they implemented cuts to the Criminal Justice Compensation Board.

    \”Let us be under no illusion, as Shadow Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan recently said, the Government has let victims down by cutting compensation for innocent victims of violent crime and leaving the position of Victims’ Commissioner vacant for almost a year, before making the role part time,\” the Commissioner said. 

    \”Downing Street does not speak up for victims of crime. David Cameron wanted to reduce prison sentences by half if criminals entered a guilty plea, they have closed refuges and cut resources for Victim Support. 

    \”The Labour Party continues to work with organisations that support victims to ensure the right support, at the right time, is in place. The next Labour Government will implement a strategy that keeps victims at the heart of all decisions which is the right way forward – not add ons and bolt ons to existing legislation as the current Government is doing.\”

    Putting victims first is a commitment Vera Baird has given in her Police and Crime Plan for residents of Northumbria and from April 2015 responsibility for some victims\’ services will fall to Police and Crime Commissioners.

    Vera Baird has consulted on an outline strategy and is mapping the need for services. Through working with local authorities and other responsible partners she will devise a final joint strategy ensuring local services for victims are the best that can be jointly provided.

    \”Victims will always be at the centre of the criminal justice system in our region,\” she said.