Kemi Badenoch has called for Prime Minister Andy Burnham to bring forward emergency legislation to stop the early release of hundreds of prisoners. Burnham announced last week that he was pausing the scheme, which would have seen roughly 700 more inmates released in September.
Early release scheme origins
The controversial early release scheme was introduced by the Tories in 2023. Badenoch backed it at the time. The policy was part of a bid to stop prison overcrowding, first for 18 then 70 days. Under the Tories, some 10,000 prisoners were let out early.
Prison failures
The crisis was caused by a failure to build new prisons, leaving just 100 spare male prison places by the time Labour came to power. The Tories shut 23 prisons and added only 500 net prison places between 2010 and 2014.
Reform UK Shadow Home Secretary Zia Yusuf said: “Early release has been a disastrous policy ever since the Tories first introduced it – they even tried to expand in 2024, which Kemi Badenoch voted for.”
Broader Tory record
The party promised to bring immigration down to the tens of thousands but increased it to record levels. It promised to fix Britain's productivity crisis but never did. It promised to get public finances under control but presided over record debt. It promised Brexit meant Brexit but botched Brexit entirely. It promised to be on the side of small businesses but never got rid of the IR35 rules that hurt contractors and freelancers.
Now its leader wants you to believe it can fix a prison crisis it created. From crime to immigration, from the economy to housing, it was the Tories who caused the problems – Labour merely made matters worse.
