Burnham pauses early prisoner release plan

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has put the early release of prisoners on pause, dramatically reversing his predecessor's policy.

[Subscribe to our Substack newsletter: https://channel4news.substack.com/subscribe]

For weeks, women who had suffered violence and sexual crimes have been telling this programme of their anguish and fear at the news that the government was considering letting the men who harmed them out of prisons in England and Wales early, in a bid to free up places.

They called on the government to think again, and now Burnham has announced that “no prisoners will be let out” under the early release scheme until an “urgent review” has been carried out.

Survivors of sexual assault have welcomed the move but it doesn't change the reality that the prison system is underfunded and overcrowded.

But it will delay the personal anguish of thousands of victims and some damaging headlines for the new prime minister.
-------
Get more news at our site - https://www.channel4.com/news/
Subscribe to our Substack newsletter: https://channel4news.substack.com/subscribe
Follow us:
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@c4news
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/channel4news/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Channel4News
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Channel4News/