In one of its initial significant decisions, the newly-elected Labour government of Britain declared the early release of numerous prisoners. The government attributed the necessity for this action to years of neglect and underinvestment during the tenure of the Conservative Party, which lost the recent general election after governing for 14 years.
The existing prison system is nearly at full capacity, with some of the country’s prison buildings deteriorating. The objective of the plan is to prevent a potential overcrowding crisis. Despite concerns about potential repercussions due to crime being a crucial political issue, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a former chief prosecutor, wasted no time in pointing fingers at his predecessors to justify the need for early prisoner releases.
Starmer expressed, “We anticipated there would be challenges, but the extent of the situation was more severe than expected, and the underlying issues are quite inexcusable in my opinion.” He emphasized the imbalance between the number of prisoners and available prison spaces, stating, “I cannot construct a new prison within the first seven days of a Labour government – we need a sustainable solution to address this issue.”
According to the new government’s strategy, individuals serving certain sentences in England and Wales will be granted early release after completing 40% of their sentence, instead of the usual halfway point where many are released on license, a form of parole.
