Politics latest: 'Emergency' prisons plan revealed - as government urged to decriminalise drug possession (2024)

Friday marks the end of the first full week for hundreds of new MPs who came to Westminster after the general election.

But for some of the newbies, there was an even bigger task coming their way - being promoted to ministers.

Our political reporter Alix Culbertson takes at look at the new Labour politicians who have already found themselves on Sir Keir Starmer's frontbench.

Jess Phillips says there are "still things that I worry about" after the government confirmed it would be letting prisoners out of jail early to help with overcrowding.

The Labour MP and now minister in the Home Office tells Sky News' Electoral Dysfunction podcast that "by no means is any of this perfect" and the situation was a "terrible, terrible thing".

She adds: "It's still not something that you would ever want to be doing. And there are still things that I worry about."

But Ms Phillips defends the decision too, especially around the exclusion of domestic abusers and stalkers from the policy, saying it is "a shift from what it was... when the Tories were doing it".

She says: "You do what you can in the initial hours that you have to do it, and that isn't the end.

"We will now work on exactly how to make sure that as many possible safeguards can be put in place for potential victims whose perpetrators are being released."

The full episode of Electoral Dysfunction will be released here later this evening, so keep an eye on your feeds.

The victims' commissioner for England and Wales has welcomed the government's decision to exclude domestic abusers and stalkers from its new early release scheme for prisoners.

Baroness Newlove called the move a "welcome and necessary step, reflecting the concerns raised by victims and those who advocate for them".

In a statement, she said there needs to be "clear communication with victims" during the process to ensure the government has their trust, including informing them if release dates are brought forward and allowing them to request protection measures.

She demanded the probation service is "properly resourced to effectively manage licensing conditions and exclusion zones, which are vital for public safety and victim reassurance".

Baroness Newlove added: "Public safety must remain the top priority as these changes are implemented.

"We must acknowledge these exclusions have limitations and cannot address every potential risk."

The chief inspector of prisons is warning the move by the government to tackle overcrowding in jails will "inevitably lead to the early release of some risky offenders".

In a statement, Charlie Taylor welcomed the decision by Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood to release prisoners who had completed 40% of their sentences to free up space, saying the "recognition of the seriousness of the situation, and swift action to manage the prison populations to relieve the immediate strain many jails are under" was positive.

However, he added: "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 (offender management units) and probation services.

"How these men are prepared for release and how prisons and probation are supported in managing them will be vital."

Mr Taylor said his organisation 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".

Former home secretary and likely Conservative leadership contender Suella Braverman has blasted the government in a somewhat odd way - namely for "picking up Tory ideas".

As we have just reported, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has announced plans to release prisoners who have served 40% of their sentences to help alleviate overcrowding in jails, subject to some exemptions.

A similar plan was said to have been proposed by the now former justice secretary Alex Chalk last year, but was understood to have been blocked by Number 10 over fears of a backbench rebellion from Tory MPs.

Tweeting after the government announcement was made, Ms Braverman said: "I opposed this, both inside & outside government.

"With 40 MPs, I tabled amendments to the Sentencing Bill to stop the early release of criminals and put public safety first.

"We managed to stop the government doing it."

She added: "Labour is picking up Tory ideas and putting the public at risk."

Ms Braverman also claimed "everyone and his mother should run to be leader" of her party when the contest kicks off.

But she said all contenders have "got to start taking responsibility for what we did, and for the things we shamefully left undone - such as not building enough prisons".

The justice secretary has announced that the government will conduct a review into how the "crisis" in prisons was "allowed to happen".

Shabana Mahmood explained: "It will look at how and why necessary decisions were not taken at critical moments. And the lessons that must be learned by future governments, from the failures of the last."

She added: "The legacy of those who last occupied 10 Downing Street is prisons in crisis, moments from catastrophic disaster.

"Our legacy will be different.

"A prisons system brought under control. A probation service that keeps the public safe. Enough prison places to meet our needs. And prisons that break the cycle of reoffending - and create better citizens, not better criminals."

The justice secretary has set out what would happen if the government does not implement these "emergency measures" to reduce the prison population.

Shabana Mahmood said: "Soon, the courts would grind to a halt, unable to hold trials.

"The police would have to stop carrying out arrests. With officers unable to act, criminals could do whatever they want, without consequence.

"We could see looters running amok, smashing in windows, robbing shops and setting neighbourhoods alight.

"In short, if we fail to act now, we face the collapse of the criminal justice system. And a total breakdown of law and order."

She declared this "the legacy of the last Conservative government" and the consequences of their "failure" to address the issue.

The new justice secretary has placed the blame for the "crisis" in prisons firmly at the door of the previous government.

Shabana Mahmood said of the Conservative Party: "Time and again, they ducked the difficult decisions that could have addressed this challenge.

"Instead, they kept the public in the dark about the state they had left this country in. They were too weak to heed the warning signs that were flashing. They chose instead to put the country at risk."

There have been reports that her predecessor, Alex Chalk, tried to implement the emergency measures she is announcing today in order to ease the crisis, but former PM Rishi Sunak blocked it.

"But, instead of taking responsibility, she said, "Rishi Sunak called an election. He tried to hoodwink the electorate. And he was punished at the ballot box."

Echoing language used to describe the people who appeased the Nazis in the 1930s, Ms Mahmood said: "Those responsible – Sunak and his gang in No 10 – should go down in history as the guilty men.

"The guilty men who put their political careers ahead of the safety and security of our country. It was the most disgraceful dereliction of duty I have ever known."

By Mollie Malone, news correspondent

These measures from the justice secretary will be seen among the prison and probation sector as a proper attempt to reset and alleviate the immediate prisons crisis (see previous post).

But it doesn’t solve everything. Far from it.

The justice secretary admits today that the core announcement to lower the automatic release point from 50% to 40% is in itself an emergency measure.

At the moment, we are lurching from one emergency measure to the next.

There are safeguards in place that didn't exist under the previous controversial scheme launched by the Conservative government in October - allowing eligible offenders to be released up to 70 days before the end of their sentence.

Those safeguards might help offset some fears expressed by victims groups.

But it certainly doesn't offer a long term solution.

"Although it will be a law, it still does not resolve how we use prison in the long term," said one prison source.

"If we carry on with court backlogs and send more people to prison, we will be in the same position all over again," they said.

The government are committing to building more prison places.

But their prisons minister James Timpson fundamentally disagrees with that approach and thinks a third of people that are in prison shouldn't be there

There are lots of questions yet to answer about what meaningful reform looks like.

The government has just announced measures to tackle overcrowding in prisons, as places are due to run out "within weeks".

There were just 708 adult male prison places left last week, and jails have routinely been running at 99% capacity since the start of 2023.

To tackle the immediate crisis, the justice secretary is announcing that from September, certain prisoners will be released after serving 40% of their sentences, rather than 50%.

A number of exemptions will apply to the scheme.

People serving sentences for serious violent offences of four years or more, as well as sex offences, will be automatically excluded.

People convicted of crimes related to domestic abuse will also not be eligible for release, such as:

• Stalking offences;
• Controlling or coercive behaviours in an intimate or family relationship;
• Non-fatal strangulation and suffocation;
• Breach of Restraining Order, Non-Molestation Order, and Domestic Abuse Protection Order.
  

Those released will be monitored through the probation service, and could be subject to curfews and electronic tagging.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has said these are "emergency measures" due to the exploding prison population.

Alongside the immediate measures, she is announcing a pledge torecruit over 1,000 additional trainee probation officers by March 2025.

She will be working on "clear plans" to build prisons quicker, and a10-year capacity strategy will also be published in the autumn.