Constitutionally illiterate

The justice secretary must resign if he cannot reverse low conviction rates for rape within a year, Labour has said.

Shadow justice secretary David Lammy said Robert Buckland shed “crocodile tears” when he apologised for convictions falling to a record low.

A government report this week said only 3% of reported rapes in England and Wales resulted in a prosecution in 2019-20 – down from 13% five years ago.

Mr Buckland said Mr Lammy’s comments had no place in a serious debate.

The justice secretary told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show that Labour was pursuing “low politics” in challenging him to improve the conviction rates or resign.

He said: “It is constitutionally illiterate to suggest that a politician like me should in any way command and control the way that independent police and prosecutors go about their work.”