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The justice secretary has unveiled new plans to tackle the overcrowding crisis that has engulfed jails across the country.
In a speech at HMP Five Wells in Northamptonshire, Shabana Mahmood said failing to ease pressure on prisons could cause a “total breakdown of law and order”.
Thousands of prisoners are to be released earlier than planned as the government attempts to avert the “collapse” of the prisons system.
The plans would see a temporary reduction in the proportion of their sentence many prisoners must serve in jail from 50 per cent to 44 per cent.
This would not apply to violent offenders serving more than four years, sex offenders or those in prison for crimes connected to domestic abuse.
The change is expected to come into force in September, with the Justice Secretary also announcing the recruitment of 1,000 additional trainee probation officers by March.
Ms Mahmood added there was now “only one way to avert disaster”, adding that the measures would “give us the time we need to address the prisons crisis”.
It comes as Nigel Farage is set to return to GB News next week after being elected as an MP on his eighth attempt, the channel has confirmed.
Ofcom repeatedly found that the broadcaster breached rules on impartiality, which allow politicians to present current affairs programmes but not act as newsreaders.
Key Points
- Labour set out emergency plans to tackle collapsing prisons
- Starmer says ‘unforgivable' prison overcrowding crisis ‘worse than we thought’
- Justice secretary: ‘Sunak and his gang in Number Ten are guilty men’
- Health minister Wes Streeting to ban puberty blockers permanently
- Suella Braverman blasts Labour’s early release prison plan
- Jeremy Corbyn vows to resurge ‘from below’ to challenge Labour
Keir Starmer gives verdict on bank holiday if England win Euros
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer would not commit to an extra bank holiday if England win Euro 2024.
The Labour leader said the UK should “certainly mark the occasion” but said he did not want to “jinx anything” by pre-empting the result of Sunday’s final.
The Liberal Democrats led calls for an extra bank holiday after England claimed a last-minute 2-1 victory over the Netherlands on Wednesday. Gareth Southgate’s side will now play Spain in the finals.
Keir Starmer gives verdict on bank holiday if England win Euros
The prime minister previously supported calls for a bank holiday when England’s women’s football team made it to the World Cup final
Maryam Zakir-Hussain12 July 2024 18:00 1720801834Food bank launches campaign to end subsidised ‘fine dining’ for MPs
The largest food bank in Westminster, home of the Houses of Parliament, has called for an end to subsidised “fine dining” for MPs, suggesting funds be redirected to combating poverty.
The North Paddington food bank (NPFB) has launched the campaign “No Food in The House” urging Parliament to use the millions spent on subsidised catering for MPs to tackle food insecurity across the country.
Politicians could enjoy a full three-course meal for as little as £10.41 last year, according to the charity, costing the taxpayer a reported £7million a year.
Food bank launches campaign to end subsidised ‘fine dining’ for MPs
The ‘No Food in The House’ campaign aims to raise awareness for food poverty and insecurity across the country
Maryam Zakir-Hussain12 July 2024 17:30 1720800034Suella Braverman says Tories ‘shamefully’ did not build enough prisons in bizarre attack on own party
Suella Braverman launched a bizarre attack on her own party’s policies, urging the Conservatives to admit they “shamefully” did not build enough prisons while in office.
As Labour announced a series of measures to ease the overcrowding crisis facing UK jails, the ex-home secretary said the Tories needed to “take responsibility for what we left undone”.
Sir Keir Starmer’s newly appointed justice secretary Shabana Mahmood warned on Friday that without immediate action to address overcrowding, prisons would run out of space within weeks leading to “a total breakdown of law and order”.
Suella Barverman admits Tories ‘shamefully’ did not build enough prisons
As Labour announced a series of measures to ease the overcrowding crisis facing UK jails, Suella Braverman said the Tories needed to ‘take responsibility’
Maryam Zakir-Hussain12 July 2024 17:00 1720798289UK plans to release more prisoners early to tackle overcrowding
Britain’s new Labour government plans to expand the early release of prisoners from September to tackle a jail overcrowding crisis which justice minister Shabana Mahmood said threatened to create “a total breakdown of law and order”.
Prisons in England and Wales have space for only 700 more male inmates and are likely to be full within weeks, after which cells in police stations would need to be used, preventing officers from patrolling the streets.
“We could see looters running amok, smashing in windows, robbing shops and setting neighbourhoods alight,” Mahmood said in a speech at a prison in central England, blaming the crisis on her Conservative predecessors.
Under the plan, which is subject to parliamentary approval, most prisoners will become eligible for release after serving 40% of their sentences behind bars, down from 50% currently.
Prisoners who are let out can be returned to jail if they reoffend or break other terms of their release.
The early release plan would be reviewed in 18 months’ time, Mahmood said. Asked how many would be freed, she said the figure was in the “low thousands” in the short term.
Maryam Zakir-Hussain12 July 2024 16:31 1720797294Chief of prisons claims Labour plan could lead to ‘early release of risky offenders’
Chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor has claimed a decision to tackle the overcrowded prisons crisis “needed to be taken and none would have been without risk”.
Responding to the emergency plan to release prisoners early, Ms Taylor said in a statement: “This is a critical point for prisons, with barely any places left and the effects of existing measures such as ECSL (End of Custody Supervised Licence) being exhausted.
“While we therefore welcome recognition of the seriousness of the situation, and swift action to manage the prison populations to relieve the immediate strain many jails are under, this latest measure will inevitably lead to the early release of some risky offenders, and will add to the workload of already stretched prison OMUs and probation services.
“How these men are prepared for release and how prisons and probation are supported in managing them will be vital.
“We will be watching this very closely as well as any plans that are developed once the immediate pressure is relieved that seek to make prisons places of genuine purpose, help people to break the cycle of reoffending and protect the public from future harm.”
Salma Ouaguira12 July 2024 16:14 1720796773Labour’s Wes Streeting to ban puberty blockers permanently
Wes Streeting has suggested a ban on puberty blockers could be made permanent, The Telegraph reports.
The health secretary could be taking a harder stance on transgender issues and extend the ban on the NHS prescriptions.
The medication, which is used by those under the age of 18 to halt elements of physical puberty, was put under an emergency ban after the publication of the Cass Report.
The ban will last until 3 September, but Mr Streeting could seek to pass a law to make it permanent.
It comes as the published Cass Review by Dr Hilary Cass into children’s gender services in the NHS said children have been let down by a lack of research and evidence on the use of puberty blockers and hormones.
Voters: Five years of Tories ‘terrible, rubbish and in shambles’
Polling company Omnisis have published a survey with wordcloud of the words voters would use to describe the last five years of the Conservative government.
Probation chief raises concerns about released prisoners’ risk to public
Chief inspector of probation Martin Jones questioned whether there is “enough time” to get probation processes “right” ahead of the early release of some prisoners under Government plans.
He told Times Radio: “The probation service has a caseload nearly three times the number of those in prison.
“Now, they need to ensure that they identify the risk that those people represent and that they identify what their needs are when they leave prison. Do they have accommodation? Do they have jobs to go to? Do they have, for example, drugs and mental health support in the community?
“Now, my concern is, is there enough time to get that right, to ensure they get the right information and that they can then deal with those people effectively when they leave prison.
“Our recent inspection programme has found that there’s some real problems at the front line with the probation service at the moment, particularly in relation to staffing. Some areas that we inspect have fewer than 50% of the probation officers they need. So how are they going to have the capacity to ensure that they safeguard the public when they’re being released from custody?”
Suella Braverman blasts Labour’s early release prison plan
Former home secretary Suella Braverman has accused Labour of copying the Tories with its plan to tackle overcrowding with the early release scheme.
The Tory right-winger said she and her MP colleagues had managed “to stop the government doing it”.
She tweeted: “Labour is picking up Tory ideas & putting the public at risk.”
She added: “Everyone and his mother should run to be leader. But we’ve all got to start taking responsibility for what we did. And for the things we shamefully left undone. Such as not building enough prisons.”
Salma Ouaguira12 July 2024 15:45 1720795204New Reform deputy leader Richard Tice out and about in Skegness
The newly appointed Reform deputy leader Richard Tice has been out and about in his constituency.
The MP for Boston and Skegness has been pictured with local councillors after Ben Habib was sacked from the role.
Salma Ouaguira12 July 2024 15:40 Newer1 / 8OlderDisclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
