The Justice Secretary has said that to “avert disaster” around 5,500 prisoners will be released early which will be a temporary scheme.
The Justice Secretary said that the former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has left a “timebomb ticking away” as the state of the prison system is in chaos.
Shabana Mahmood told MPs on Thursday, “It is now clear that by September of this year our prisons will overflow. There is only one way to avert disaster.”
She said that Labour has no choice because if they fail to act now the courts will come to a standstill if prisons run out of space.
Mahmood said that if they do not act now then the government will “face the prospect” of a total “breakdown of law and order” on the street of England and Wales.
Mahmood told MPs, “If that bomb goes off, if our prisons run out of space, the courts would grind to a halt, suspects could not be held in custody and police officers would be unable to make arrests, leaving criminals free to act without consequence.
“In short, if we fail to act now we face the prospect of a total breakdown of law and order.”
Most prisoners serve half of their sentence and they are then released on bail conditions, but with the mess the Conservative government left Labour has been forced to make a temporary change to the system.
Those who have committed serious crimes will be exempt from the scheme.
Mahmood said, “I understand some may feel worried but I can assure them that we are taking every possible precaution.”
The Justice Secretary said that Sunak and the former Justice Minister are “the guilty men” who must be held responsible for failing to address the crisis which is the most disgraceful dereliction of duty.”
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