He the new British Labour government plans to expand early release of prisoners from September to address a prison overcrowding crisis that a court has said threatens to create a “total breakdown of law and order.”
By early 2023, prisons in England were already 99% full. As of July 8, there were only around 700 places available for men, out of a total of 84,000.
“If we do not act now, we risk the collapse of the criminal justice system and the breakdown of public order,” the new Justice Minister, Shabana Mahmood, said Friday (12/7/2024), at HMP Five Wells prison, in the heart of English.
According to the government, there will be no more places available in correctional centers “within weeks.”
Among the measures announced, prisoners eligible for early release under police control after serving half of their sentence will be able to benefit from this measure sooner, after completing 40% of their sentence.
People sentenced to more than 4 years and those imprisoned for sexual crimes are not included in the toolkit. The new measures will only come into force in September and must be approved by Parliament.
New Prime Minister Keir Starmer accusing the previous conservative government of the situation. “This is a blatant irresponsibility on the part of a government that is about to end its term,” he said from Washington, where he is participating in a summit NATO.
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