Lord Woolf clashes with PM over prison tariffs

Lord Woolf, the most senior judge in England and Wales, yesterday clashed with Tony Blair when he called for politicians to end their role in deciding how long killers, such as Moors murderer, Myra Hindley, should spend in prison.

The Lord Chief Justice's proposal was immediately rejected by Downing Street which made clear the Home Secretary should continue to have the final say in the minimum prison terms for life sentences.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "He believes the Home Secretary should retain this right, given his accountability to parliament."

But yesterday Lord Woolf told journalists this was not a role for politicians. "My own view is that the question of setting and recommending minimum terms in the case of life prisoners is a role which should be performed by the judiciary."

The Home Secretary has already lost the power to determine minimum sentences for juvenile killers after a European court ruling in the case of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, who murdered Merseyside toddler James Bulger.

Judges in Strasbourg have also ruled that former Home Secretary Jack Straw breached the rights of another murderer – Dennis Stafford – by keeping him in longer than recommended by the Parole Board.

The Home Secretary now has influence only in the most serious murder cases, the so-called "whole life tariffs".

Lord Woolf said the issue was a "proper matter" for the Lords to resolve. He was launching the Court of Appeal criminal division's annual review at the Royal Courts of Justice when he made the comments.