Andy Burnham is facing a surprising but formidable new opponent as his prison early release plan comes under fire. Cherie Blair, a top lawyer and KC, has warned that the prime minister risks “solving the crisis in men’s prisons at the expense of women”.
Lady Blair fears women are in danger of becoming “collateral damage” as the government prepares to release prisoners early. The fact that the British state is on the verge of setting prisoners free before they have served their full sentences is proof of a failing system, according to analysis.
Blair’s Warning on Women’s Prisons
Lady Blair described Burnham’s proposals as “troubling”. She expressed concern that if women’s prisons are closed, women will be moved “further from their children and families”. She insisted they must not be released into “homelessness or back into abusive relationships”.
She warned that any notion of holding men inside women’s prisons is “even more troubling”. Many women have “experienced domestic abuse, sexual violence, coercion or other forms of male violence”, she said, and there is the danger of “retraumatising” them.
In England and Wales, there were 3,350 women prisoners at the end of June, less than 4% of the prison population.
Burnham’s Prison Plan Under Fire
Burnham has floated the idea of “making greater use of the entire prison estate including using the female estate for male offenders”. This has set off alarm bells, with critics arguing he is about to release the “causes of crime” back onto the streets before they have paid their debt to society.
Rival parties are offering alternative solutions to the overcrowding crisis. Nigel Farage has suggested prison spaces could be rented in El Salvador. Reform says “Nightingale” prisons could be built, a reference to the hospitals constructed at remarkable speed during the pandemic.
Burnham has said it is “simply not possible to prevent all offenders from being released early without the prison system collapsing”. He should remember that keeping citizens safe is a matter of social justice as well as criminal justice.
