Witham MP Priti Patel has challenged the Government on plans to cut prison places by 5,500. On the day that Labour Ministers have released 1,700 prisoners early, Priti referred to a Government published impact assessment that stated savings would be made by cutting back on building new prison places and questioned the Secretary of State for Justice in the House of Commons on whether this cut would be implemented. The Secretary of State could not provide a guarantee that those 5,500 prison places will be built.
Priti said: “With Labour Ministers emptying our prisons and putting dangerous offenders back onto our streets, the public will be alarmed to see the Government planning to slash 5,500 prison places. During the General Election Labour pledged to continue with the prison building plan the last Conservative Government put in place, but we know now that it joins a growing list of promises being broken by this deceitful and self-serving Labour Government. Having spent the last 14 years opposing new laws to introduce tougher prison sentences, Labour are now putting our safety at risk by failing to commit to invest in the new prison places needed to lock dangerous criminals up.”
