Kemi Badenoch has demanded that Andy Burnham keep murderers, rapists and paedophiles in jail, warning that early release steals victims' justice. Speaking alongside rape victims, the Conservative leader urged the Prime Minister to avoid "the worst of all options".
Victims speak out
Sarah Wilson, a grooming gang survivor, warned: "Paedophiles will never be rehabilitated. We need to exempt all these dangerous offenders. I'd prefer a thief on the streets than someone who's going to rape another child."
Carol Higgins, who was repeatedly raped by her own father, said his sentence was already too short for the depravity. "Instead of serving 50% of his sentence in prison, he will only serve 33%. Every minute taken off his prison time is a minute added to my fear and anxiety and a trigger for my complex PTSD." She added: "He did the crime. He should serve the time. Do not let him out early."
Under Labour's plans, 6,000 prisoners were due for early release starting September 2, but the Ministry of Justice has paused the changes for an urgent review. Those sentenced to less than 18 months would have been freed first, then progressively more serious offenders, with those given more than 12 years due for release next June. Many convicts would serve just a third of their term, while 43,000 criminals would avoid jail entirely.
Badenoch's alternative
Mrs Badenoch called for faster prison building and said the UK should rent prison places overseas, as Sweden has done with Estonia. "If everybody says 'no prison near me', we won't get these built," she said. She also urged the Government to "remove foreign offenders to prisons in their home countries" and leave the European Convention on Human Rights.
Jade Belgrove, a child rape survivor, said: "We can't carry on like this. We can't face this trauma day in, day out; it's so tiring, and we're tired of fighting. We need this resolved, and we need it sorted now."
Marie Stone, who was sexually assaulted by Harry Miah – due for release if his 18-year term is cut to six years – said: "We are exhausted. Absolutely exhausted, to our stomachs. I just feel that something needs to be done." She added: "We have this for our lives, PTSD for life, if anybody knows what that actually means, it's destroying us."
Government defends action
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "Protecting the public will always be our top priority. That's why we are taking decisive action to fix the prison crisis we inherited while investing record sums to support victims. But after 14 years where prison places increased by just 500, our prisons were days away from running out of places. This would have caused the total breakdown of law and order."
The spokesperson added that the government is building prisons at the fastest rate since the Victorian era, expanding tagging, and giving victims a say in licence conditions. Changes due in September have been paused for an urgent review.
