Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) sees a spat between Blair and Cameron over who voted for what on sentencing. Completely ridiculous exchange between two grown men. Sentencing is too ridiculous at the moment. I think it is the automatic sweeping reductions that shock us all. I am all in favour of having a screw to turn to help an accused decide to plead guilty and save us all the time and money in having to go through the court palaver to prove the case if possible. But we seem to knock one third off every single criminal’s sentence if they plead guilty – even if the evidence has them 100% banged to rights. It’s a tool to use when the evidence is a bit less conclusive – not a discount for shopping at a store.

And then – we are shocked because the other sweeping reduction is for half the remaining sentence for good behaviour. Once again I am all in favour of a tool to keep prisoners sweet and well-behaved – but automatically knocking half the sentence off seems a bit blunt and somewhat over-generous. No doubt the knees are jerking all over the Home Office and we will hear imminently that ‘urgent reviews’ and tougher regimes will be in place in the blink of an eye.

I have to dash off at the end of PMQs to do an interview for the World at One on the proposed (or not) amnesty for illegal immigrants. The Government is deciding to call an amnesty because it has done such a poor job on policing our borders, deciding on applications to remain and finding illegal immigrants. So – the estimated half a million can only be coped with and brought into the light through an amnesty. It’s an admission of failure.

The danger of an amnesty is that it then encourages people to believe that if they come and disappear for long enough into our grey areas, eventually the Government will give in and call an amnesty. In Spain they had a one-off amnesty. They are now on their fifth one-off amnesty. We do already have in legislation the right for someone who has been here 14 years to apply for leave to remain to be granted – and at that stage it is. However, waiting in limbo and working illegally for 14 years is hardly a path to be recommended. We need to get people to work and paying taxes if they have a right to be here and deported if they don’t. An amnesty is just a stop-gap measure for regularising life for those who languish here unresolved. So a cautious welcome for a good look at the proposal – but no carte blanche for all illegals.