Politics latest: 'Emergency' prisons plan revealed - as government urged to decriminalise drug possession (2024)

The justice secretary has announced that the government will conduct a review into how the "crisis" in prisons was "allowed to happen".

Shabana Mahmood explained: "It will look at how and why necessary decisions were not taken at critical moments. And the lessons that must be learned by future governments, from the failures of the last."

She added: "The legacy of those who last occupied 10 Downing Street is prisons in crisis, moments from catastrophic disaster.

"Our legacy will be different.

"A prisons system brought under control. A probation service that keeps the public safe. Enough prison places to meet our needs. And prisons that break the cycle of reoffending - and create better citizens, not better criminals."

The justice secretary has set out what would happen if the government does not implement these "emergency measures" to reduce the prison population.

Shabana Mahmood said: "Soon, the courts would grind to a halt, unable to hold trials.

"The police would have to stop carrying out arrests. With officers unable to act, criminals could do whatever they want, without consequence.

"We could see looters running amok, smashing in windows, robbing shops and setting neighbourhoods alight.

"In short, if we fail to act now, we face the collapse of the criminal justice system. And a total breakdown of law and order."

She declared this "the legacy of the last Conservative government" and the consequences of their "failure" to address the issue.

The new justice secretary has placed the blame for the "crisis" in prisons firmly at the door of the previous government.

Shabana Mahmood said of the Conservative Party: "Time and again, they ducked the difficult decisions that could have addressed this challenge.

"Instead, they kept the public in the dark about the state they had left this country in. They were too weak to heed the warning signs that were flashing. They chose instead to put the country at risk."

There have been reports that her predecessor, Alex Chalk, tried to implement the emergency measures she is announcing today in order to ease the crisis, but former PM Rishi Sunak blocked it.

"But, instead of taking responsibility, she said, "Rishi Sunak called an election. He tried to hoodwink the electorate. And he was punished at the ballot box."

Echoing language used to describe the people who appeased the Nazis in the 1930s, Ms Mahmood said: "Those responsible – Sunak and his gang in No 10 – should go down in history as the guilty men.

"The guilty men who put their political careers ahead of the safety and security of our country. It was the most disgraceful dereliction of duty I have ever known."

By Mollie Malone, news correspondent

These measures from the justice secretary will be seen among the prison and probation sector as a proper attempt to reset and alleviate the immediate prisons crisis (see previous post).

But it doesn’t solve everything. Far from it.

The justice secretary admits today that the core announcement to lower the automatic release point from 50% to 40% is in itself an emergency measure.

At the moment, we are lurching from one emergency measure to the next.

There are safeguards in place that didn't exist under the previous controversial scheme launched by the Conservative government in October - allowing eligible offenders to be released up to 70 days before the end of their sentence.

Those safeguards might help offset some fears expressed by victims groups.

But it certainly doesn't offer a long term solution.

"Although it will be a law, it still does not resolve how we use prison in the long term," said one prison source.

"If we carry on with court backlogs and send more people to prison, we will be in the same position all over again," they said.

The government are committing to building more prison places.

But their prisons minister James Timpson fundamentally disagrees with that approach and thinks a third of people that are in prison shouldn't be there

There are lots of questions yet to answer about what meaningful reform looks like.

The government has just announced measures to tackle overcrowding in prisons, as places are due to run out "within weeks".

There were just 708 adult male prison places left last week, and jails have routinely been running at 99% capacity since the start of 2023.

To tackle the immediate crisis, the justice secretary is announcing that from September, certain prisoners will be released after serving 40% of their sentences, rather than 50%.

A number of exemptions will apply to the scheme.

People serving sentences for serious violent offences of four years or more, as well as sex offences, will be automatically excluded.

People convicted of crimes related to domestic abuse will also not be eligible for release, such as:

• Stalking offences;
• Controlling or coercive behaviours in an intimate or family relationship;
• Non-fatal strangulation and suffocation;
• Breach of Restraining Order, Non-Molestation Order, and Domestic Abuse Protection Order.
  

Those released will be monitored through the probation service, and could be subject to curfews and electronic tagging.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has said these are "emergency measures" due to the exploding prison population.

Alongside the immediate measures, she is announcing a pledge torecruit over 1,000 additional trainee probation officers by March 2025.

She will be working on "clear plans" to build prisons quicker, and a10-year capacity strategy will also be published in the autumn.

After the Conservative Party lost the general election, Rishi Sunak announced he would resign as leader "once the formal arrangements for selecting my successor are in place".

So how could the next leader be selected?

1922 committee

The body that governs Tory party leadership races is their backbench committee of MPs, the 1922 Committee.

This week, Tory MPs elected a new chair - Bob Blackman.

Decisions can now be taken about the timeframe and process of the leadership contest - although it is unclear when that will happen.

Rishi Sunak's role

As it stands, the former PM remains leader of the party and leader of the opposition. He has appointed a shadow cabinet and will fulfil the constitutional requirements of the role - for now.

Mr Sunak could agree to stay as party leader until a permanent successor is selected - in which case he will continue to carry out the opposition leader role, including facing Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs.

But he could choose to step down before the contest is concluded, which he seemed to suggest in his resignation speech.

That would mean an interim leader would have to be chosen (that could fall to Oliver Dowden, who is the interim deputy leader - or Tory MPs could choose someone else entirely).

Will the party members have a say?

There is a broad consensus among Tory MPs that members should get a vote on who the new party leader should be.

Short vs long

Some Tories have proposed the contest should be short, so the new leader can be in place to challenge the Labour government as soon as possible - particularly when they present their first budget in the autumn.

The new 1922 committee chair told Sky News that his colleagues have expressed "a range of views" - but a consensus appears to be emerging that a long leadership contest is the right thing to do to ensure there is full debate on which direction the party should take.

It could mean that nominations for the new leader don't even open for a number of weeks, and then MPs could whittle down the number of candidates - or not, and members could choose between multiple people.

There have been suggestions that the contest should not conclude until after the party's conference in early October, like when David Cameron won back in 2005, so that the contenders effectively audition in front of the membership.

By Tim Baker, political reporter

Sir Keir Starmer has "doubled down" on his promise to hold a free vote on assisted dying in the future.

The new prime minister has not committed to a timeline for considering a change of law, although hinted it may not be in the coming year.

But his stance is that MPs will be able to choose to vote with their conscience, rather than along party lines.

Speaking on his trip to NATO in the US, the new prime minister was asked when he would hold the vote he had previously promised on the topic.

He said: "What I said was that we would provide time for this, obviously by way of a private member's bill."

A private member's bill is a proposed change of law suggested in the Commons by an MP and not on behalf of the government.

The prime minister added: "There'll be a free vote - that remains my position for reasons I set out.

"Having probably got more experience in this than most people having personally, looked at, tens of cases in my time as director of public prosecutions.

"As to the timing of it. I haven't made a commitment on that, and I don't want to because... It's just, we've got to set our priorities for the first year or so.

"But I will double down on the commitment that we are going to do that. We will allow time for a private member's bill. It will be a free vote."

Read the PM's full comments here:

The government is expected to announce a number of measures this afternoon to ease pressure on prisons amid serious overcrowding - including releasing certain prisoners after they have served 40% of their sentences, rather than 50%.

The Green Party - which has four MPs after the election - has released a statement setting out its position on easing the crisis in prisons.

Co-leader Carla Denyer said the government should "work to reduce the number of people being sent to prison in the first place, starting by immediately publishing the expert drug policy advice sent to the home secretary in 2016, and heeding its advice to decriminalise possession".

The MP for Bristol Central said prison was "demonstrably an ineffective way of reducing reoffending".

She singled out short sentences for triggering re-offending, saying they have "devastating effects on people's lives by losing jobs, homes and even relationships".

She said the new prisons minister, James Timpson, is right that we are "addicted to punishment", and called on the new Labour government to "take the bold action necessary to place a much bigger emphasis on prevention, rehabilitation and restorative justice".

This means giving more resources to frontline services and youth services, and ensuring the probation and prison services have proper funding to help former prisoners rebuild their lives.

As the new prime minister makes his international debut at the NATOsummit in Washington – what does he need to do to make a quick impact with international colleagues?

On today's Daily, Niall Paterson is joined by political correspondent Tamara Cohen to discuss how Sir Keiris tackling his first overseas visit.

Plus,Lord Peter Ricketts, former diplomatand French ambassador,joins Niall to lookat Labour's wider foreign policy plans.

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Water bills are to rise by an average of 21% over the next five years, the industry regulator Ofwat has ruled.

But with the impact of the cost-of-living, water companies spilling record amounts of sewage into our waters, and controversialbonuses for senior leaders, do we need a complete overhaul of theindustry?

On this episode, Niall Paterson hears from our business correspondent Paul Kelso in Henley, on the impact for consumers, providersand our water ways.

Niall also speaks to Stuart Colville, deputy CEO of Water UK, which representsthe water companies, asking why they disagree with Ofwat’s plans.

Plus, Feargal Sharkey, campaigner and former lead vocalist of The Undertones,joins Niall to share his reaction and the story behind his efforts to protect our rivers and seas.

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For further background from Sky News, you can read Paul Kelso’s further analysis of Ofwat's business plansfor Thames Water’s survival here.