After so many U-turns, Labour can’t be trusted to get this right

Nick TimothySun, August 30, 2026 at 8:42 PM UTC

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Andy Burnham announced his latest early release plans on Sunday - Hannah McKay/AFP via Getty

The new Prime Minister told the BBC on Sunday that his latest plan to exclude dangerous criminals from early release does not go far enough.

Quite an admission, made worse by the fact that this is Andy Burnham’s fifth policy position on the scandal since he took office. This is meant to be a final resolution of the crisis. But we have been told that by Labour several times before. Why should we believe them now?

First, we had a review of Sir Keir Starmer’s original plan, which would see thousands of criminals set loose after serving as little as one third of their sentences.

Then a pledge to exclude rapists and paedophiles, when we were told Labour had gone to the “very limits” of what was possible.

Then another review, this time of grooming gang perpetrators.

Then a further pause, when it became clear Pc Andrew Harper’s killers would still go free without serving their full sentence.

Pc Harper’s killers, Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, will be excluded from the scheme, it has been pledged - Thames Valley Police/PA

Now a further set of exclusions, covering manslaughter, death by dangerous driving and other sexual offences. The public has been told that this time it’s final – that Burnham has “turned over every stone”.

So, what is his plan? Essentially, he is releasing one dangerous group of criminals to stop the release of another. He plans to create space by releasing inmates serving sentences under the imprisonment for public protection, or IPP, mechanism.

There are still more than 2,000 prisoners serving this form of sentence, which was abolished in 2012.

Under the scheme, violent and sexual offenders were not automatically released after serving their sentence. Rather, their release was subject to approval by the Parole Board, and depended on it being satisfied they no longer presented a threat to the public. By definition, those still serving IPPs have not passed that test.

These prisoners include dangerous repeat offenders, many with psychological conditions. Of those serving IPPs, more than 1,400 have been recalled for breach of their lifelong licence conditions.

They include: Tracey Connelly, who killed her son Baby P, who has been released twice and recalled both times; Richard Lloyd, convicted of sexual assault, attempted rape, affray, theft, assault by beating and numerous other violent crimes, who has also been recalled; Abdullahi Suleman, who has been recalled four times for failure to comply with his treatment for bipolar disorder; Thomas White and Wayne Bell, both schizophrenics convicted of violent crimes; and many others.

Work by my party revealed that more than 8,000 victims had been sent letters by the Government informing them those responsible for the crimes against them may be eligible for release, prompting outcry – including from the victims of the organised rape gangs.

How will the victims of criminals serving IPP offences feel when they learn these dangerous offenders, some with acute psychological disorders, are back on the streets?

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When pressed on how many spaces the release of IPP-serving offenders will create, he was unable to answer clearly.

Is he going to release all of them? On what terms? Will they be released even if the Parole Board still considers them a threat to the public? And when will they be released?

Labour are still set to begin letting prisoners out under their release plan from Oct 1. Will the spaces be freed up in time?

The Prime Minister also mentioned deporting foreign national offenders. When pressed on numbers, again, he couldn’t answer, suggesting “hundreds”.

He did not explain whether he anticipates any new return agreements being signed with countries of origin. Nor did he explain how he plans to circumvent European human rights laws, which will inevitably mean judges intervening to block removals.

And even if a few hundred were removed, this barely touches the sides. There are more than 10,000 foreign criminals in our prison estate. Not a single one of them should be here.

And Labour’s latest plan doesn’t even exclude all paedophiles – those guilty of possessing paedophilic material will still be released. To say nothing of the 9,300 domestic abusers research by the Conservatives showed to be eligible under the scheme.

Burnham has scrambled desperately to be able to announce that Pc Harper’s killers will be excluded, after weeks of Opposition pressure.

But of the 700 prisoners set to be released in the first tranche in October, just 50 will be excluded under the latest plans. Labour’s changes really are peanuts.

Most importantly, Labour have not explained their legal plan – by what mechanism will they delay and amend the Sentencing Act they passed this year? The commencement order, which requires the beginning of the release plan to start in September, remains in place.

And they have not told us how they will change the law. They may try to use secondary legislation, amending the act’s provisions by simple vote in Parliament.

But after so many U-turns, can the public trust Labour to get this right on the first attempt? Primary legislation must be brought forward this week to ensure the exclusions are on a firm legal footing, resistant to legal challenge, and can be amended by MPs if they don’t go far enough.

Labour has proven incompetent to deal with this mess, with the scrutiny and the pressure to change course coming from the Opposition. That’s why a full parliamentary process must be followed and MPs must be given the opportunity to amend Labour’s disastrous release act.

Nick Timothy is shadow justice secretary and the Conservative MP for West Suffolk

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Breaking”