NO-HEADLINE

The Lord Chief Justice is expected to savage the Home Secretary today in the House of Lords. Lord Justice Taylor, who is retiring due to ill health, will deliver a broadside to Michael Howard, accusing him of introducing production-line justice on the basis of tainted statistics.

In a speech during a parliamentary debate on Mr Howard's white paper, previewed in today's Times, Lord Taylor says there is "no merit in adopting a macho attitude regardless of its efficacy". He adds that that jailing repeat offenders for a minimum of three years would force judges to "ratchet up" other terms, with a resultant increase in the prison population. The speech is expected to unleash an torrent of criticism in the Lords of Mr Howard's policies.