Kemi Badenoch has told Andy Burnham to bring MPs back from their summer holidays to keep convicted killers and rapists behind bars. The Prime Minister has paused Labour’s early release scheme after criticism from PC Andrew Harper’s widow.
Mrs Badenoch, the Tory leader, warned that thousands of dangerous criminals, including paedophiles, burglars and thugs, are still set to get out early because the law has not been changed. This has led to calls for emergency legislation to keep some of the country’s most dangerous offenders, including grooming gang members, behind bars.
Emergency Legislation Needed
With Parliament not due to return until September 1, ministers will only have 24 hours to table new laws before chaos erupts. The Tories have declared Parliament must be recalled if it will take longer than a day to ram through new measures to protect the public.
Mrs Badenoch said: “Andy Burnham must prove he is serious by acting now to stop Labour’s early release scheme. Instead, in an echo of Starmer, he has announced another government review. It’s not good enough.
“Without emergency legislation, dangerous violent and sexual offenders will be released at the start of September. The Conservatives have fought this dangerous scheme from day one. It’s all well and good cutting bills and bus fares, but that pales into insignificance when paedophiles and rapists are about to be let out on our streets.
“Burnham needs to show us he’s ready to take the tough decisions.”
Victims Speak Out
Victims last night told how Labour’s sentencing overhaul has left them feeling “petrified”, “constantly anxious” and “failed” by the state. One rape victim said: “I have been made to feel like the weak vulnerable little girl that this first happened to.”
Rape survivor Jade Belgrove, whose attacker Simon Tyler was jailed for nine years, said: “This new legislation has completely upended my sense of security and has left me deeply shaken and uncertain, having not only a detrimental impact on my own mental health but also on my family.
“I have been made to feel like the weak, vulnerable little girl that this first happened to. But this isn’t only affecting me all over again, but thousands of other individuals all over the country who have all received this same letter informing them their attacker will be set free early – many who I have recently been in contact with and want to fight this with every bit of strength we have left after being so cruelly let down by this Government.
“I am petrified of the danger this puts not only myself in, but every other citizen once these sexual predators are set free. This new law change makes the justice system seem a mockery, as well as the victims of these horrendous crimes.
“How is anyone ever going to feel confident in coming forward to report these crimes if this is how the Government handles it and make us survivors feel. I feel so let down and helpless, which is why I am pleading to anyone that will listen to please, please do the right thing and don’t let this happen.”
Grooming gang survivor Sarah Wilson added: “I always knew these men would be released one day, but I believed I had more time to rebuild my life and prepare myself for that reality.
“Finding out that they may be released early has completely set me back. I have barely left the house. I feel constantly anxious, frightened and unsafe. I can barely sleep, and when I do, I do not feel rested.
“This news has affected me so deeply that my physical health has also suffered, resulting in hospital admissions. It is not fair. The state failed us when we were children, and now it feels as though we are being failed all over again.
“We spent years fighting for justice, reliving the worst things that happened to us, only to be told by email that violent offenders may be released early because prisons are overcrowded. Survivors do not get early release from the trauma. We are left carrying it for life — in our minds, in our bodies, in our homes and in the way we move through the world.”
Lissie Harper – who married the police officer just one month before his death – slammed politicians for making decisions that “tell victims their suffering matters less”.
Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, both passengers in the car that dragged PC Harper to his death, were jailed for 13 years in 2020 for the manslaughter of the 28-year-old officer. But the pair are now eligible to be freed just halfway through their sentences under the Ministry of Justice early release scheme. The driver of the vehicle, Henry Long, was jailed for 16 years, and will not be eligible for early release.
Details of Labour's Plan
Under Labour’s plans, killers and rapists will be let out of prison early, while 43,000 criminals will avoid jail altogether. Many convicts will be out after spending just a third of their jail term in prison. Those sentenced to four years or more will only be let out after serving 50% of their sentence behind bars.
The first cohort is expected to be released on September 2. Criminals handed sentences shorter than 18 months will be the first to be freed this September. Releases will then ramp up month by month. Offenders handed more than 12 years in jail – some of the most dangerous criminals in the country – will start to be freed next June.
Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy added: “Labour’s early release scheme is catastrophic. Victims should not have to live in fear all summer waiting for a review. The clock is ticking. Thousands of rapists, paedophiles, and other serious criminals are set to be released in September. Labour must act now and stop the mass release of dangerous criminals.”
Labour's Response
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “The Conservatives have some nerve. During their 14 years in office, they shut 23 prisons, created just 482 jail places, and granted early release to 10,000 prisoners – leaving the criminal justice system teetering on the verge of collapse.
“It’s this Government that is fixing the Tories’ mess. We have already delivered over 3,000 prison places, and we’re investing billions to deliver thousands more.”
