David Lammy has warned that scrapping the early release of sex offenders could lead to a collapse of the criminal justice system, as jails in England and Wales face a capacity crisis. The deputy prime minister and justice secretary said opponents of the policy, including Labour MPs, have offered no alternative solutions to prevent prisons from running out of space.
Early Release Scheme Under Fire
Under the government's plan, more than 5,000 prisoners, including killers, rapists, and sex offenders, will be released early from September. They will become eligible for release after serving half of their sentence, rather than the current minimum of two-thirds. The scheme has drawn criticism from Labour MPs, including former safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, and victims' commissioner Claire Waxman, who have called for child rapists and grooming gang members to be excluded.
Lammy acknowledged the concerns but stressed the urgency of the situation. "We would get back to a situation where we were running, at 99, nearly 100% [capacity]," he said, adding that failing to implement the scheme could leave no capacity across jails in November. He cited a case in his constituency where a father's daughter had been groomed, emphasizing the need to ensure perpetrators can be sent to prison.
Cross-Party Tensions and Solutions
Pressure is mounting from supporters of Andy Burnham, the former Greater Manchester mayor, who is expected to become prime minister on 20 July. Several Labour MPs have indicated they will push to drop the policy. However, Lammy said he has been in dialogue with Burnham and his chief of staff, James Purnell, about the early-release scheme. "I have known Andy Burnham and his chief of staff, James Purnell, for many, many years and of course I'm in constant discussion with them," Lammy said.
Lammy also criticized the opposition for failing to provide alternatives. "I've heard again, in parliament – the opposition raised this – but I noted that there were absolutely no solutions as to how we deal with the immediate situation," he said. He emphasized that building new prisons takes seven years, and in the meantime, community punishment must be effective.
Prison Review and International Inspiration
Lammy made his comments while visiting HMP Wandsworth with Amber Rudd, the former Conservative home secretary, who is leading a review into tackling drugs, violence, and organized crime in prisons. The inquiry aims to find cross-party policies for the medium to long term, addressing concerns about a lack of strategic planning. Rudd said she wants to create a "roadmap to a prison system that will be a better outcome for what we've asked prisons to do – keep the public safe, keep the prisoners locked up, and look after the public's purse."
Rudd plans to draw inspiration from prison systems abroad, including Spain's focus on rehabilitation and Texas's sentencing reforms that allowed some prisons to close. "I want to look at Scandinavia and I want to look at Spain, where they've done a lot with new prisons," she said.
