Labour is considering plans to release offenders after they serve just 40% of their sentence in a bid to tackle prison overcrowding, the Guardian has been told.
While the proposed plan – first reported by the Daily Telegraph – is just one of several options the Ministry of Justice is weighing, prison overcrowding has emerged as one of the most urgent issues facing the new government, with governors warning that the prison estate in England and Wales will be effectively full within the next week or so.
One government source told the Guardian: “No one wants to do it, but their hands have been forced by the inaction of the last lot.
Another government insider added: “We haven’t made any decisions yet, we’re just kicking the tyres on all the options.
In his first press conference as prime minister on Saturday, Keir Starmer highlighted prisons as one of the biggest issues facing his government, saying it would be impossible to stop the current policy of releasing prisoners early because of the lack of capacity in jails.
While Starmer stood by his appointment of Timpson, he steered clear of endorsing that view, though he said he wanted early intervention to stop young boys in particular from getting on the “escalator” of a life of knife crime and going to prison numerous times.
The original article contains 415 words, the summary contains 221 words. Saved 47%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Labour is considering plans to release offenders after they serve just 40% of their sentence in a bid to tackle prison overcrowding, the Guardian has been told.
While the proposed plan – first reported by the Daily Telegraph – is just one of several options the Ministry of Justice is weighing, prison overcrowding has emerged as one of the most urgent issues facing the new government, with governors warning that the prison estate in England and Wales will be effectively full within the next week or so.
One government source told the Guardian: “No one wants to do it, but their hands have been forced by the inaction of the last lot.
Another government insider added: “We haven’t made any decisions yet, we’re just kicking the tyres on all the options.
In his first press conference as prime minister on Saturday, Keir Starmer highlighted prisons as one of the biggest issues facing his government, saying it would be impossible to stop the current policy of releasing prisoners early because of the lack of capacity in jails.
While Starmer stood by his appointment of Timpson, he steered clear of endorsing that view, though he said he wanted early intervention to stop young boys in particular from getting on the “escalator” of a life of knife crime and going to prison numerous times.
The original article contains 415 words, the summary contains 221 words. Saved 47%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Daily mail will pounce on this
Too right. I’m actually surprised at the headline from the Guardian.
I can already imagine the scaremongering headlines.