Labour Party considers releasing prisoners who have served less than half their sentence

Labour is considering a plan to release prisoners who have served less than half their sentences in a bid to tackle prison overcrowding in England and Wales.

The new proposal would allow prisoners serving “determinate” sentences to be released for between 40% and 43% of their sentence.

Offenders imprisoned for sex crimes, acts of violence or acts of terrorism would be excluded from the program, as would any offender subject to parole board decisions upon release.

The proposed plan, first reported by the Daily Telegraph, is just one of several options being considered by the Justice Ministry.

“If you have to make really difficult and potentially unpopular decisions, make them early. Because you can blame them on your predecessors.”

Labour is reportedly considering releasing some offenders early to tackle prison overcrowding. pic.twitter.com/G20cIUKvZx

— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) July 8, 2024

Prison overcrowding is a major problem, as the current prison population is nearing capacity.

As of May, the prison population stood at 87,505, with an official capacity of 88,895, The Guardian reports.

A government source told the Guardian: “Nobody wants to do it, but they have been forced to do it by the inaction of the last few. It is certainly an option, but it is not a done deal yet.”

Another government official added: “We have not made a decision yet, we are just studying all possible options. But the crisis is serious and we do not have easy decisions to make.”

Keir Starmer wants to tackle prison overcrowding

At his first press conference as Prime Minister on Saturday 6 July, Keir Starmer highlighted prisons as one of the biggest problems facing his government.

He said it would be impossible to end the current policy of early release of prisoners due to lack of capacity in prisons.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, Daily Mirror deputy editor Kevin Maguire said it would be a difficult decision to make.

He explained: “You inherit a situation over which you have no control. Keir Starmer said they don’t have a magic wand, you’d have to be a magician to produce new prisons overnight.

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“You can see the numbers and the projections. If you have to make difficult and potentially unpopular decisions, make them early, because you can blame your predecessors.

“Because in this case, they inherited a problem of too many prisoners (and) not enough prison spaces.

“It’s not a satisfactory outcome, people will think, ‘Wait, this seems really unfair,’ but if you’re going to do it, do it now.”