Former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng launched a blistering attack on Labour's plans to reduce prison sentences for women, branding the proposal as "insane".
In a furious response, Kwarteng insisted "justice should be blind" regardless of gender or background.
He told GB News: "This is silly because the whole principle of British justice was that justice is blind.
"It should be blind as to what colour you are, what religion you are, what creed you are, what gender you are.
Kwasi Kwarteng fumed that "justice should be blind"
GB News
"This idea that you might get let off or not sent to prison because you're a woman but a man committing exactly the same crime is going to be sent to prison, I think is not only unequal, but goes against the whole principle of justice which is equal justice for everybody regardless of their personal circumstances.
"If you commit a crime, you should face the consequences. Doesn't matter whether you're a Muslim, black, brown, white, a man or a woman."
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
"You should suffer those penalties," he concluded, dismissing Labour's plans as "just insane."
Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle defended the proposals, arguing that the current criminal justice system discriminates against women.
He said: "The problem at the moment is that we have a criminal justice system that doesn't treat women equally."
He emphasised that women are often imprisoned for non-serious crimes, particularly related to non-payment of fines and shoplifting.
Women in the UK serve a shorter sentence than men
GETTY"Our prison estate should be for people who are violent, people who are dangerous to society, or people who are dangerous to themselves," Russell-Moyle stated.
"At the moment a lot of our women in the prison estate do not meet that category and therefore, why the hell are they there?" he added.
Labour's manifesto pledged to review sentencing guidelines to bring them "up to date".
Currently, women in the UK typically receive shorter prison terms than men for similar offences.
Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle defended the proposals, arguing that the current criminal justice system discriminates against women.
GB News
The push for reform comes amid a severe prison capacity crisis, with jails reportedly at breaking point.
Labour has already announced "one in, one out" emergency measures to address the capacity shortage.
4The scheme will reduce the automatic release point from 50 per cent of a sentence to 40 per cent, taking effect from September 10.
Advocates argue that women often receive shorter sentences due to their roles as mothers and their frequent status as victims of crime themselves.
