Lammy under fire for buying suit instead of ‘taking charge’ of mistaken releases
A justice minister has defended David Lammy after he admitted he took time to buy a new suit prior to his first appearance at Prime Minister’s Questions.
News of an Algerian convicted sex offender being mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth broke as the Deputy Prime Minister stood in for Sir Keir Starmer at the weekly session in the Commons.
Reports suggest Mr Lammy, who is also the Justice Secretary, was briefed on Brahim Kaddour-Cherif’s release on Tuesday night, and he had prepared to address it on Wednesday, but did not.
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick criticised Mr Lammy for “going out shopping for a suit, rather than taking charge of his department”.
Minister Alex Davies-Jones argued it is not appropriate to “get into the weeds” of whether the Justice Secretary was out shopping.
Mr Lammy had told MPs on Wednesday he “bought a new suit this morning because my godmother said she would be watching” by way of addressing criticism over his lack of poppy ahead of Remembrance Sunday.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Ms Davies-Jones said: “He wasn’t out on Oxford Street shopping for a new suit.
“He was preparing for Deputy Prime Minister’s Questions. He was preparing to stand in for the Prime Minister, the first ever black person to do so.”
Further pressed on the issue, she added: “He cracked a joke because his poppy had fallen off this suit, which he also addressed during the Deputy Prime Minister’s Questions.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to get into the weeds of if he was shopping or not in the morning.”
Accidental release
Police are searching for Kaddour-Cherif, 24, who was released on October 29, and Billy Smith, 35, who was also accidentally freed from the same south-west London prison on Monday.
It comes after Epping hotel migrant Hadush Kebatu was wrongly released from HMP Chelmsford on October 24.
Following Kebatu’s release, the Government promised the “strongest checks ever”, and launched an independent investigation led by Dame Lynne Owens.
Mr Jenrick told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The second convicted sex offender, illegal migrant in two weeks has been released accidentally from one of our prisons, despite the fact that the Justice Secretary after the first incident came to Parliament and said that he was putting in place the most robust checks to ensure this never happened again.
“It took six days for the prison service supposedly to even become aware that this had happened and inform the Metropolitan Police, who are now a week behind in the manhunt to find him.
“Then the Justice Secretary is informed about this on Tuesday night, didn’t come clean.
“He spent the next morning, we’re told, going out shopping for a suit, rather than taking charge of his department.
“He then comes to Parliament and doesn’t answer five straight questions about this. I think it’s a disgrace. It’s a total dereliction of duty.”
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Just can’t take anything Jenrick says seriously. Rich of him to talk about dereliction of duty or anything to do with dereliction considering covid rule breaking, helping richer friends out and talking filth.
The Cons have the crumbling public services they worked hard for 14 years to achieve so why are they still unhappy.
So what, Lammy is at the gates of every prison on every release? The press are not doing their job, under the Tory watch hundreds were also released by mistake and they tore the prison service to bits leaving an absolute mess and put the head Tory idiot that messed up in the house of lords, Failing Grayling. And the poppy, I am sick to death of the usual suspects getting upset when the poppy is not worn. You do not need to wear it to show respect but it has become an easy trop to attack someone when they… Read more »
Failing Grayling now @Lemmy Not Lammy…flat-lining…
I dislike Jenrick. I also dislike Lammy. The two are not mutual exclusive.
Lammy and Jenrick both are unpalatable individuals but there is no getting away from facts that this govt loves to trumpet when it suits them. Under Tories it was an average of one individual being released mistakenly every week, over their time in office but under Labour in one year it is an average of 4 a week. Instead of carping maybe they should have got on with sorting it out. More serious is the stat that 23,500 families have had their Child benefit stopped by HMRC in last year due to administrative errors. Many low income and single parent… Read more »
Quite a few people mobile phones these days, perhaps he could try one,they are useful. it’s possible to receive messages like what’s for tea. And if there any more prisoners mistakenly released from prison he may be interested in
The truth about Lammy being given the actual facts of prisoners being released by mistake ,before his performance ,should be released for the sake of public trust of politicians is further erased. Starmer (when he returns from Brazil) should demand the full facts and if it is found to be a case of misleading Parliament he should be removed from his position with immediate effect.