Prisons will run out of space within days, risking public safety, prison governors in England and Wales warn. The Prison Governors’ Association says that soon, police officers will be unable to detain people because there will be nowhere to put them.
The current government has already taken several emergency measures to try to prevent the prison population from hitting its limit of 88,778, but figures published on Friday showed that the number of prisoners is just 1,400 short of the maximum.
Labour criticised the extension of early release, with Keir Starmer accusing Rishi Sunak at Prime Minister’s Questions of allowing prisoners guilty of domestic violence to be let out early.