Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to introduce emergency legislation to stop the planned early release of hundreds of prisoners in England.
The government had announced plans to release some prisoners early as part of efforts to ease severe overcrowding in prisons. However, the scheme faced criticism from victims’ families and campaigners, prompting Burnham to announce a pause and review of the policy.
The first phase of the plan was expected to see about 700 prisoners released in September. But the Conservatives argue that simply reviewing the scheme will not prevent offenders from being freed and are demanding immediate action to protect the public.
Badenoch is urging the government to fast-track new legislation that would prevent serious offenders, including some convicted of violent and sexual crimes, from benefiting from the early release programme.
“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 say during a press conference with victims.
She also called on Burnham to revoke the legislation due to take effect on 2 September and, if necessary, recall Parliament from its summer break to address the issue.
The Conservatives said victims should not have to spend the summer worrying about whether offenders who harmed them would be released early.
However, the Labour government defended the policy, blaming the previous Conservative administration for creating the prison capacity crisis. Labour said years of underinvestment and a failure to expand prison spaces had left the justice system struggling.
A Labour spokesperson said the Conservatives had closed prisons and introduced early release measures themselves while in government.
“It’s this government that is fixing the Tories’ mess,” the spokesperson said, adding that Labour had already delivered thousands of additional prison places and was investing further to increase capacity.
The early release scheme was first introduced by the Conservative government in 2023 as prisons faced rising overcrowding. Thousands of prisoners were released early before Labour came into power, and the current government later announced another release programme after finding very limited space available in prisons.
The government has insisted that the policy excludes the most dangerous offenders, including murderers serving life sentences and some prisoners on extended sentences.
The controversy intensified after criticism from the family of police officer Andrew Harper, who was killed in 2019 while responding to a burglary. His widow, Lissie Harper, described the possibility that some offenders could benefit from the scheme as unacceptable.
Opposition parties have continued to criticise the plan, while the government maintains that the review is necessary to balance prison capacity challenges with public safety.
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