Blunkett: life will still mean life if I choose

The death of Myra Hindley is expected to ease the way for sweeping reforms that will strip the Home Secretary of the right to impose heavier sentences on killers.

Legal reformers said yesterday that Hindley's death, after 36 years in jail, had removed the strongest argument in favour of his controversial power to prevent Britain's worst murderers from being released.

David Blunkett and his predecessors have used the power to keep more than 220 killers and serious offenders, including Hindley, in prison for longer than the original trial judge or parole board recommended. About 24 have been told, as Hindley was, that they would stay in prison until they died.

John Wadham, the director of the civil rights group Liberty, said: "Every time there is a discussion on fixing tariffs or releasing prisoners, the newspapers report 'Myra Hindley to be released soon'.

"That has made politicians very worried about putting fairer systems in place. But it is also the best argument for reform, because they have to be seen to be tough on crime but never soft on Hindley."

Successive Home Secretaries, including Mr Blunkett, have insisted they have the moral and legal right to set longer sentences, to reflect public revulsion about the worst offences and to uphold confidence in the criminal justice system.

Yesterday, sources close to Mr Blunkett indicated that he would fight any attempt by the judges to remove that power, which was granted to Home Secretaries 40 years ago as part of the settlement which ended the use of the death penalty in Britain. Hindley and her lover were among the first murderers convicted after hanging had been abolished.

A Blunkett aide said yesterday: "We reject the suggestion that Home Secretaries are foaming at the mouth, seeking to implement the tabloid agenda."Sources also said that Labour MPs close to Saddleworth Moor, where Hindley and her accomplice, Ian Brady, buried their young victims, had privately told the then Home Secretary, Jack Straw, that they would lose their seats if she were released, because of the depth of local feeling.

But Mr Blunkett is now under intense and increasing pressure from English and European courts to remove the power, on the grounds that it is arbitrary, secretive and undermines the independence of the judicial system.

He is expected to lose a second major case on the issue within weeks, when the Law Lords rule on an appeal by Anthony Andrews and two other convicted killers, Glyn Pyrah and Daniella Lichniak, whose sentences were lengthened by previous Home Secretaries.

In May, Mr Blunkett lost a similar case in the European Court of Human Rights brought by Dennis Stafford, a convicted killer whose six-year sentence for cheque fraud was increased by Mr Straw.

If the Law Lords find against Mr Blunkett, up to 70 prisoners now serving longer than their original sentence could be eligible for immediate release. Another 22 people on "whole-life" tariffs, such as Rosemary West and Jeremy Bamber, could theoretically win the right to release if they are granted parole.

"This system has to change," Mr Wadham said. "It's not democratically accountable. When Home Secretaries are asked about individual cases in Parliament, they rarely answer the questions. This isn't about democracy. It's about populism."

But, Michael Howard, the former Tory home secretary who overruled a Parole Board recommendation that Hindley could be released, said: "I think it is important in the interests of maintaining public confidence in our system of criminal justice that the decision in these cases is taken by the Home Secretary who is accountable to Parliament, and in that way to the electorate at large."