Labour called for Ken Clarke to resign following remarks he made about rape Proposals to halve the prison terms of offenders who enter early guilty pleas are driven purely by a desire to save money, Labour has claimed.
Shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan told a Commons debate the plans were “a recipe for disaster”.
But Justice Secretary Ken Clarke insisted cost-cutting was “not the principle motive for reform”.
A Labour motion opposing the policy was defeated on Monday evening by 221 to 303.
Mr Clarke was forced to apologise last week after he appeared to suggest some rapes were more serious than others during a discussion about the policy. However, he laughed off calls from Labour for him to resign.
Currently, offenders who plead guilty at the earliest opportunity are entitled to a reduction in their sentence up to a maximum of 33%, but the government is consulting on extending that to 50%.
The Ministry of Justice estimates it would save 3,400 prison places – and £130m – per year by 2015. That saving represents 62% of the £210m a year it has promised to cut.
During the debate, Mr Khan said Mr Clarke’s decision to accept a 20% cut in his budget had “led to a fixation with reducing the prison population”.
He said the desire to do so by cutting sentences, rather than by cutting crime, showed the government “knows the price of everything but the value of nothing”.
“There is absolutely no evidence at all behind this proposal”
Philip Davies Conservative MP
“Nothing in these plans will reduce reoffending or do justice. They are a recipe for disaster that confirms how out of touch this government is with the real world,” Mr Khan added.
In reply, Mr Clarke said he regarded it “as in the national interest to make reductions in public expenditure”, but saving money was not his primary motivation.
“The principle motive is to make the criminal justice system better and to tackle some of the problems we’ve inherited,” he said.
He insisted the discount policy had the support of the prime minister, adding that David Cameron ran a “scrupulously collective government”.
Mr Clarke has said the proposals could spare rape victims the ordeal of having to give evidence at a trial by giving a greater incentive for offenders to plead guilty.
But Mr Clarke was warned by an MP from his own backbenches that he may have to step down for the sake of his party.
Philip Davies, who represents Shipley, said: “These proposals have to go. And I very much fear that if the Secretary of State doesn’t listen to the widespread opposition to these plans, for us to restore our reputation as a party of law and order, he will have to go as well.
“This is simply an arbitrary proposal. There is absolutely no evidence at all behind this proposal to suggest that more people will plead guilty as a result.”
In the vote on the Labour motion, Mr Davies rebelled and supported the opposition.
Following its defeat, Justice Minister Crispin Blunt said the motion was “a good example of how not to debate or create public policy in this area”.
“There is a growing appreciation and understanding that the simplicity of the opposition motion cannot do justice to the complexity of issues and the factors we must reconcile,” he said.
“The motion is outside any proper context and is premature, prejudging proper consideration of our policies as a whole.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.