Labour is giving dangerous criminals an invitation to “cause carnage” by taking more controversial emergency decisions to ease overcrowding in prisons, Robert Jenrick has declared. The Shadow Justice Secretary accused the Government of “siding with criminals over the public” after the Ministry of Justice confirmed offenders recalled to jail will only be held for 28 days.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood claimed the move, which will create 1,400 additional spaces, was necessary to prevent the prison estate from collapsing in November. Ms Mahmood said police would not be able to make arrests and courts would be unable to hold trials, meaning there would be a “total breakdown of law and order” if prison chiefs ran out of cells. Inmates who commit a “serious further offence” once they are released, such as murder, rape or carrying a firearm, will not be included in the changes.
But domestic abusers, as well as those convicted of burglary, could be included.
Mr Jenrick said: “When questioned, the Justice Secretary could only say that sex offenders would be excluded.
“That’s an invitation for dangerous criminals to cause carnage.
“By telling prisoners that they will never serve their full sentence, even if they reoffend, the Justice Secretary has removed an important deterrent.”
Mr Jenrick added: “There are 10,350 foreign criminals in our jails. 17,000 people are awaiting trial.
“Instead of reducing those numbers, Labour have decided to let out criminals who reoffend early.
“They’re siding with criminals over the public.
“Labour’s Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has chosen to put the public at risk rather than deporting the foreign criminals who are clogging up our prisons.”
Offenders recalled to prison typically have to wait for another Parole Board hearing before they can be released again.
But under Labour’s changes, they will walk out automatically after 28 days.
Criminals subject to MAPPA arrangements – where multiple agencies draw up plans to protect the public and prevent them from reoffending – will not be included. Many domestic abusers fall into this category.
Justice sources believe more than half of recalls are linked to failing to comply with licence conditions, such as failing to contact a probation officer in time.
Prison bosses said male prisons in Britain are 99% full and will run out of space in November.
And the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) announced plans to start building three new prisons this year in a bid to make more space.
Ms Mahmood confirmed the MoJ had received £4.7bn for three new prisons as part of a “record prison expansion”.
The cash will see officials break ground on a site near HMP Gartree in Leicestershire later this year, while plans are under way for new prisons near HMP Grendon, in Buckinghamshire, and HMP Garth, in Lancashire.
Ms Mahmood told journalists: “The consequences of failing to act are unthinkable, but they must be understood.
“If our prisons overflow, courts cancel trials, police halt their arrests, crime goes unpunished, we reach a total breakdown of law and order.”
Ms Mahmood admitted she is prepared to be unpopular, amid public fury over the decisions to release criminals, to avoid another prison crisis.
She said: “I’m prepared to make sure we never, ever run out of prison places again.
“As we stand today, by November, we go down to zero.
“I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to keep this country safe, to make sure that we never run out of prison places, and that we never run out of prison places and we never see the collapse of the prison system or our wider law and order system.”
The chairman of the Prison Officers’ Association said building new prisons will “not improve the current population crisis”.
Mark Fairhurst said: “The Government would be better off spending billions of taxpayers’ money on modernising the prison estate, funding an under-resourced probation service, providing more secure mental health beds and ensuring we have robust community sentences that the public have confidence in.
“Building new prisons will take years and will not improve the current population crisis.
“If new prisons are to be built, I hope the Labour Party’s commitment to the biggest insourcing in a generation is applied and the new build prisons remain in the public sector.”
Mr Fairhurst also warned of drones flying into UK prisons, branding it a “national security issue”.
He said drones are “going in and out like [at] Gatwick airport.”
The senior prison officer said: “Drones are an imminent threat, not only to prisons but to national security.
“I was watching a video last week of a one-person drone, which is basically the same as a helicopter.
“We know there are drones out there that can carry a payload of 75kg and now we’ve got a drone that acts as a helicopter — that’s an escape attempt. So we need to sort it out.
“We know there’s technology out there which can block a drone from entering our airspace. [One] of the excuses we get is: ‘Well, technology advances.’
“There really is no excuse. We should be able to secure our airspace, because it’s only a matter of time before a firearm is flown in by a drone.
“We’ve already had two scares — two prisons in full lockdown searches.”
