Criminals and their associates have been pictured pumping their fists, popping corks, and giving reporters the middle finger as they walk out of prison early, thanks to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. One of the inmates being sprung by the Labour government in England and Wales, drug dealer Djaber Benallaoua, said he was now a “lifelong Labour voter.”
On winning Britain’s July 4 snap election with a record-low share of the popular vote, Starmer claimed freeing thousands of prisoners early was the only way to ease prison overcrowding—although the British state has consistently managed to find additional funding and space to host boat migrants crossing the English Channel illegally. Over 5,000 convicts are set to be let loose after serving as little as 40 percent of their terms over the next six weeks.
Conveniently, the move creates space for anti-immigration demonstrators receiving lengthy prison terms for as little as making “hostile gestures” at police while protesting the murder and wounding of young girls, allegedly by a migration-background mass stabber, in Southport, England. Some have been arrested for merely posting “grossly offensive” messages or “inaccurate information” about immigration and the alleged killer on social media.
While some freed prisoners expressed gratitude to the Labour government—”Thank you, Sir Keir Starmer, you’re the best,” said one convicted fraudster—others admitted they or their fellow inmates would soon be victimizing the public again.
“Most people re-offend, so they’ll be straight back in,” remarked Shane Devlin, who had been convicted of inflicting actual bodily harm on his victim.
Some suggested the preponderance of foreigners in British prisons is a primary cause of the overcrowding in prisons—but Starmer moved to block deportations as soon as he entered office.
Corks fly at HMP Wandsworth as another early-release prisoner comes out of the gates to a welcome party pic.twitter.com/Ceh7fd8xYX
— Charlie Peters (@CDP1882) September 10, 2024
