Emily Thornberry MP, Labour’s Shadow Attorney General, responding new CPS guidelines on prosecuting child abuse cases, said:

“These proposals are a welcome effort to correct the over-cautious stance the CPS took in the Jimmy Savile and street-grooming cases.

“However, the guidance contains a lot more “shoulds” than “musts” which makes it far from certain how much of this will actually get implemented. The latest independent inspection of the CPS painted a picture of an organisation that is understaffed, under-resourced and increasingly having to leave things to the last minute.  Without doubting the good faith of prosecutors, this is hardly an environment suited to the uniform implementation of best practice.                  

“It is about time that the police and the CPS worked together better and earlier on these difficult cases. This out of touch Government is still not addressing this seriously and until they do there will be a yawning gap between their rhetoric on crime and the reality.”