Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has called for Prime Minister Andy Burnham to introduce emergency legislation to halt the early release of hundreds of prisoners. The call follows Burnham's announcement last week that he was pausing a scheme, which would have seen approximately 700 prisoners freed in its first phase in September, after significant backlash from victims and survivors.
Badenoch asserts that the government's planned review of the scheme will not be sufficient to prevent offenders from being released. She is urging Burnham to expedite legislation to keep serious offenders incarcerated, stating that "dangerous offenders will start to be released the day after MPs return to Parliament after the summer recess on Tuesday 1 September." Badenoch is advocating for Burnham to revoke legislation scheduled to take effect on September 2 and, if necessary, recall Parliament to ensure that violent and sexual offenders are exempt from early release.
"It's all well and good cutting bills and bus fares, but that pales into insignificance when paedophiles and rapists are about to be let out on our streets," Badenoch is expected to state at a press conference. "Burnham needs to show us he's ready to take the tough decisions."
The early release scheme was initially implemented as part of a strategy to address unprecedented prison overcrowding, a situation the Labour Party attributes to a failure by Conservative governments to build new prisons. A Labour spokesperson commented, "It's this government that is fixing the Tories' mess."
Early release mechanisms were first employed by the Conservative government in 2023 to combat prison overcrowding, initially for 18 and then 70 days. By June 2024, prior to Labour's assumption of power, approximately 10,000 prisoners had been released early. Upon Sir Keir Starmer's entry into Downing Street in July 2024, there were fewer than 100 available prison places in the adult male estate, a situation that prompted the Sentencing Act to authorize the early release of an additional 6,000 prisoners starting in September.
The Sentencing Act already excludes the most serious and dangerous offenders, including those serving life sentences for murder or those on extended sentences. However, eligibility for early release under the scheme is determined by the length of the sentence rather than the nature of the offense.
Conservative shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy expressed concern that "victims should not have to live in fear all summer waiting for a review." He added, "The clock is ticking. Thousands of rapists, paedophiles, and other serious criminals are set to be released in September. Labour must act now and stop the mass release of dangerous criminals."
Earlier in the month, the Conservative front bench had also pressured the government to reconsider the early release plans, highlighting concerns that some rapists would be released from prison sooner than anticipated. The government had previously defended the plan, characterizing it as a political choice to manage offenders under strict conditions within the community, rather than face the complete collapse of the system, which could lead to sex offenders and others acting with impunity.
Prime Minister Burnham's decision to pause the scheme followed criticism from the family of Thames Valley Police officer Andrew Harper, who was killed in 2019. Two of the individuals convicted of Harper's killing, who received 13-year sentences, would have been eligible for the early release scheme from June 2027. PC Harper's widow, Lissie, described the plans as "deplorable" and stated that politicians were making decisions with "real and lasting consequences" for victims' families.
A Labour Party spokesperson defended the review of the Sentencing Act, stating, "The Conservatives have some nerve. During their 14 years in office, they shut 23 prisons, created just 482 jail places, and granted early release to 10,000 prisoners - leaving the criminal justice system teetering on verge of collapse. It's this government that is fixing the Tories' mess. We have already delivered over 3,000 prison places and we're investing billions to deliver thousands more."
Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Jess Brown-Fuller MP commented on the situation, noting that "in a properly functioning justice system, no victim or loved ones should ever be told that their perpetrator is being released earlier than expected." She added that the Conservatives had left prisons "on the brink of collapse, creating a capacity crisis that required emergency action." Brown-Fuller suggested that with increased prison capacity, there is "a clear opportunity for Burnham to correct some of the mistakes made by his predecessors with this scheme."