Sir Keir Starmer has said he was “angry” when he saw photos of offenders toasting their early release from jail as part of emergency Government efforts to ease prison overcrowding.
The Prime Minister criticised Tory leader Rishi Sunak for “delaying” a decision to free up space behind bars for him to deal with after the general election, insisting it was “not a position I should have been put in”.
Some 1,700 prisoners were released early from their sentences last week in the first phase of the Government’s plan to tackle overcrowding, with some pictured celebrating with friends and family, and having drinks outside.
Speaking to reporters on his trip to Rome, Sir Keir said of the images: “I spent five years prosecuting and putting people in prison, and being forced to release people who should be in prison makes me angry.
“But the choice was pretty simple. We’d got to the point where prisons were so full we had the choice between releasing people in the way that we’ve done it, or not being able to arrest people and put them in prison.”
He added: “(Rishi Sunak) delayed until after the election and made the situation worse. So, angry is what I feel, as I did when I was in Cobra, literally having to plot how many prison places we had, in order to assess whether we could contain the disorder. No prime minister should be in that position.
“To be put into a position where it’s a choice because prisons are so overcrowded that it’s a release scheme the likes of which we had to go down, or a point where the police say we cannot carry out our basic functions, is not a position I should have been put in.”
Sir Keir has said Labour’s proposed changes to planning laws will help to speed up the expansion of the prison estate and the Government is “already (trying) to move forward some of the projects in play”.
Tuesday’s exodus from jails across England and Wales included some convicted killers and came after Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced plans in July to cut temporarily the proportion of sentences which inmates must serve behind bars from 50% to 40%.
The Government said the measures were necessary as overcrowding had pushed jails to the “point of collapse”.
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