Badenoch demands emergency law on prisoner release

Under the government’s new Sentencing Act, passed in January, another 6,000 prisoners were due to be released at different stages starting in September. Some of the most serious and dangerous offenders are excluded, including murderers serving life sentences and those on extended sentences. But the release rules are based on the length of a fixed sentence, not the type of offence, which means some people convicted of serious sexual and violent crimes could still be eligible for earlier release than expected, subject to monitoring and possible recall to prison.

Badenoch has argued that the Conservatives are being honest about the scale of the crisis, even while acknowledging her own party’s record. She said the overcrowding problem had been building for a long time and admitted, “We did something, it wasn’t enough.” She also said the long-term answer would require prison building in communities and suggested the government should consider renting prison places overseas, an idea that Britain has examined before but which ministers later judged too expensive.

The move to pause the scheme followed angry criticism from the family of Andrew Harper, the Thames Valley Police officer killed in Berkshire in 2019 after being dragged by a car. Two of his killers, both sentenced to thirteen years, would have qualified for the scheme from June 2027, when the longest fixed sentences were to be added. His widow, Lissie Harper, called the plans “deplorable” and said decisions made behind desks would have lasting consequences for victims’ families. That anger has sharpened the political fight over whether prison overcrowding justifies early release at all.

Labour says the Conservatives left the justice system on the verge of collapse after fourteen years in office, including the closure of 23 prisons and the creation of just 482 jail places. A Labour spokesperson said the current government is fixing that mess and said more than 3,000 prison places have already been delivered, with billions more being invested. The Liberal Democrats and Reform UK have also used the row to attack the Conservatives and the release policy more broadly. The immediate question is whether Burnham stops at a pause or moves to change the law before the first prisoners under the new scheme can go free. For American readers, the fight is a reminder that when prisons overflow, governments face hard trade-offs between public safety, punishment, and the limits of the system.