Labour Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is expected to use emergency powers to release as many as 40,000 prisoners early in the first days of his premiership. Sources at the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) say they are facing an “immediate” and “severe” overcrowding crisis, with fewer than 700 open spaces in English and Welsh prisons.
Officials have advised Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood that prisons will reach full capacity by August 1, with early release on license for criminals 40 percent of the way through their terms being the top-rated option for dealing with the crisis.
Currently, most prisoners serving non-life sentences receive early release on license halfway through their terms. Mahmood’s Conservative Party predecessor, Alex Chalk, sought permission from then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to implement mass releases, but Sunak refused.
Prime Minister Starmer is “expected to authorise emergency measures” so prisoners serving under four years are released earlier “this week,” according to The Times.
Overcrowding was a perennial argument for weaker sentences under both the previous Conservative government and the previous Labour government. Longstanding claims that expanding the prison estate would be too expensive have been undermined by Britain’s illegal immigration crisis, with billions of pounds being found to host tens of thousands of boat migrants in hotels and other locations seemingly overnight.
Prime Minister Starmer has already improved the situation for illegal aliens, scrapping a plan to transfer boat migrants to Rwanda, despite hundreds of millions of pounds having been invested in the scheme already, on his first day in office.