Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch is demanding that Prime Minister Andy Burnham implement emergency legislation to prevent the early release of hundreds of inmates. While Burnham recently paused the initiative—which would have freed roughly 700 prisoners this September—following public outcry, the Conservative party maintains that the government’s current review process fails to guarantee that dangerous offenders will remain incarcerated.
The early release program was established to combat severe prison overcrowding. Labour argues this crisis stems from the previous Conservative administration’s failure to expand prison capacity. A government spokesperson stated they are rectifying a system left on the brink of collapse by the prior administration, noting that 10,000 prisoners were released early between 2023 and June 2024 under Conservative leadership.
Badenoch is calling for Parliament to be recalled if necessary to ensure specific violent and sexual offenders are blocked from the release pool. She emphasized that the current criteria for early release are based on sentence duration rather than the severity of the crime. The opposition warns that without urgent legislative intervention, the mass release of inmates could begin as soon as September 2, when Parliament reconvenes.
The controversy intensified after the family of PC Andrew Harper, who was killed in 2019, voiced strong opposition to the prospect of his killers potentially benefiting from such schemes. While Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Jess Brown-Fuller acknowledged that the prison capacity crisis was inherited from the Conservatives, she urged the government to use its recent increase in prison spaces as an opportunity to refine the program and better protect public safety.
