Tory MP Katie Lam has spoken out against Labour after amid claims the Government is set to delete a vital database of court records.
Katie Lam branded it “completely insane” and shared her fears it will sabotage the upcoming national inquiry into grooming gangs.
The Ministry of Justice has ordered the total destruction of the CourtsDesk system an independent archive designed to pull the curtain back on the UK’s secretive magistrates’ courts.
Speaking to GB News, Ms Lam warned that the decision effectively imposes a “blackout” on justice, protecting abusers by erasing the patterns of behavior that whistleblowers and journalists fought for decades to expose.
The scheme was signed off by the Lord Chancellor in 2021 to examine whether a national digital news feed of court listings and registers could improve media reporting by expanding access to magistrates’ court records.
Speaking to GB News, Ms Lam said: “The Government has ordered all of the records to be deleted, apparently because they present a data protection issue.
“But they’ve given no detail whatsoever about what that data protection issue actually is.
“They also haven’t explained why they believe this outweighs the importance of journalists and the public having continued access to magistrates’ court records, as you just said.
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“The Government claims that journalists and members of the public will still be able to access these records. But the Government’s own record-keeping is appalling.
“What seems far more likely is that many of these records will simply be lost.”
She added: “The national inquiry, which hasn’t yet begun, although the draft terms of reference have been published, will be looking at grooming and rape gangs across the country.
“It should be examining patterns of behaviour, patterns of abuse, and different types of cases including cases that we might not even realise are connected until we look at them together.
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“When you examine records collectively, you start to see the same warning signs and the same themes emerging. If those records are deleted, that simply won’t be possible.
“Before CourtsDesk was introduced, around two-thirds of court cases were not reported to the media in advance.
“Of course, journalists can’t report on cases if they don’t know they’re happening or don’t have the chance to sit in court.
“We now face going back to something close to a blackout.”
GB News host, Miriam Cates responded: “Is there anything that can be done legally some kind of stay of execution, if you like for this database while the issue is debated?”
Ms Lam hit back: “That is exactly what we’re asking the Government to do.
“The Conservative Party, along with campaign groups working for truth, openness and transparency in the justice system, particularly around grooming gangs are saying that, at the very least, the Government must explain why it intends to delete this material.
“They must guarantee that the records will still be available, particularly to the national inquiry.
“And frankly, if there is a rule preventing the continued collection of this information, then that rule should be changed. The public deserve access to these records.”
“There has been a total breakdown of trust. These are the same institutions that failed victims, failed girls, and some boys for years. To now ask people to simply trust that they will be transparent going forward is not credible.
“So many victims, survivors, journalists and whistleblowers lost their careers and in some cases their lives bringing this abuse to light. And now the Government wants to delete the records.”