The Guardian view on sentencing guidelines: rightwing politicians must not call the tune | Editorial

The justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, should reject false, inflammatory rhetoric and focus on the real issuesCourts knowing more about the people they are sentencing is a good thing. Last month’s attack by the shadow justice secretary, Robert Jenrick, on guidelines recommending that individuals from ethnic and religious minorities, as well as women and young adults, should have pre-sentence reports written about them, typifies the corrosive cultural politics he specialises in.Mr Jenrick