20 June 2007
Releasing a number of prisoners early to ease prison overcrowding is a temporary measure, the PM said today.
Responding to a question during PMQs, Mr Blair said he "regretted" the need to allow some prisoners to be released 18 days early in order to avoid a breach of prison condition regulations. He added that work was ongoing to provide an additional 9,500 prison places.
The Prime Minister said:
"The number of people in prison has risen dramatically…the projection we got last year we have exceeded now, therefore we have to take this temporary measure.
"I hope this is very temporary measure but we have to do it. It is important we make sure we deal with violent and sexual offenders most severely - that is why there are 3,000 people in prison today on indeterminate sentences."
Plans to release some prisoners 18 days before their scheduled release date were announced on Tuesday by Lord Falconer, Secretary of State for Justice. Many prisoners approaching the end of their sentence will not be affected by the scheme, including those who have served terms of more than four years and foreign nationals listed for deportation.
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