New DPP clashes with Blunkett

The new head of the prosecution service was at the centre of a row today after he delivered a damning condemnation of government plans to lengthen prison sentences.

Ken Macdonald warned that Home Secretary David Blunkett's penal policies would have a "grotesque" effect on the already severe problem of overcrowding.

He claimed that some sentences for drug smugglers were too long and accused successive home secretaries of adopting American rhetoric on law and order, egged on by a "punitive" climate in the media.

The attack from the man appointed last month as Director of Public Prosecutions will infuriate Mr Blunkett, whose flagship Criminal Justice Bill to lengthen prison sentences for murderers and other offenders is going through Parliament.

It will also alarm many Tories. The Opposition has highlighted Mr Macdonald's record at defending Islamic and Irish republican terrorist suspects. Mr Macdonald went public with his criticism in a speech to MPs in July, just before he was appointed as DPP. Details from the minutes of the meeting were leaked to a newspaper and published today.

They showed that the new DPP is "pessimistic" about the prospect of reducing the number of inmates in Britain's jails. The figure has ballooned from 60,000 to 73,000 since Labour came to power in 1997.

Mr Blunkett's Bill would impose a 15-year minimum sentence for most murders, 30 years for those kill policemen on duty and a "life means life" tariff for sadistic child- killers or terrorists.

According to the minutes of the July meeting, Mr Macdonald said of the Bill: "This would have an extraordinary effect on the prison population but in particular on the long-term prison population which may be the most difficult to manage."

He claimed that politicians adopted tough policies on sentencing because the political benefits were seen to outweigh the principles at stake.

Much of the surge in the numbers at women's prisons is due to the capture of drugs "mules", women used by criminals to carry large quantities of hard drugs into Britain from locations such as the Caribbean. Those caught can be given sentences of up to 15 years.

Mr Macdonald said that sentencing the women to long terms was pointless. It did not act as a deterrent, he said, because those being recruited for the trade thought they were only leaving their villages for a few days, and had no idea what might happen if they were caught.

The appointment of Mr Macdonald sparked a political storm because he is is a co-founder, with the Prime Minister's wife Cherie, of the elite Matrix Chambers. He has claimed that he only sees her occasionally and that he only met Mr Blair once, at a party more than 20 years ago.

Mr Macdonald has been forced to apologise for his own criminal record - he posted a tiny quantity of cannabis to a friend while he was an undergraduate at Oxford. He was also caught speeding in 2001.

Former Tory shadow home secretary Ann Widdecombe, a supporter of harsher sentencing, said: "It is extraordinary that someone who is criticising the Home Secretary in this way has accepted an appointment and will have to implement the policies."

Mr Macdonald delivered his speech to the all-party parliamentary group on penal affairs in his capacity as chairman of the Criminal Bar Association.

He is highly respected in the legal profession and was the unanimous choice of an independent panel of civil servants set up to select the DPP.

However, his record is as a defence barrister and Tory critics have seized on his lack of experience in prosecutions. He has promised to introduce far-ranging reforms to the Crown Prosecution Service.