Ministers will meet to address what home secretary calls an alarming rise in intimidation of politicians
An alarming rise in candidate intimidation during the UK’s general election campaign will be addressed next week at a meeting of ministers and civil servants, the home secretary has said.
Yvette Cooper said there had been “disgraceful scenes” in some areas in the run-up to the 4 July vote, as she announced she would chair a meeting of the defending democracy taskforce.
Continue reading...With Labour plan not coming into effect until September, ex-prison governor says emergency measures can only ‘keep a lid on things’
Prisons could still hit full capacity within weeks despite new emergency measures announced by Labour to release some prisoners early.
An unprecedented move to cut the time served in custody for most sentences to 40% will not come into effect until September, and officials fear that capacity will be overwhelmed by the end of August. The justice secretary has described the situation as a “ticking timebomb”.
Continue reading...Shabana Mahmood says Tories left country threatened with total breakdown of law and order
Rishi Sunak and his former ministers are “the guilty men” who should be held responsible for “the most disgraceful dereliction of duty” by failing to address the prisons crisis, the justice secretary has said.
Speaking as she set out plans to release thousands of inmates early to ease pressure in overcrowded jails, Shabana Mahmood said the Conservatives “had left the country threatened with a total breakdown of law and order”.
Continue reading...Government to announce terms which could free more than 20,000 inmates in coming months to manage capacity
The “shocking” prisons crisis is even worse than feared, Keir Starmer has said as the government prepares to release tens of thousands of inmates early in a bid to prevent jails becoming full.
The prime minister suggested he was opposed to freeing violent criminals and sex offenders when ministers announce the terms of a new prisoner release scheme for England and Wales on Friday.
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