The government has announced a new extension to the early prison release scheme.
From Monday most criminals will be notified that should they commit a crime they will be released from prison before their sentence has started.
Prisons Minister, Lord Shoestring, explained,
“Prisons are full and we haven’t got the cash or planning consents to build any new ones. It’s just simple maths, we have to let more people out. We’ve tried 50, 60 and 70% reductions to sentences so now its time for this ambitious policy. All low risk criminals who have previously had a prison sentence will be sent a free pass in the post- just like in monopoly really. Should they find themselves committing a crime they will be arrested and taken to court in the usual way. But when it gets to sentencing, they can produce the pass and go home whatever the sentence would have been. There are strict controls in place only one pass a year per criminal and none for anyone that we deem to be “far right”.
This is an entirely pragmatic policy. With not a single burglar having been apprehended in London last year this approach just formalises what is happening on the ground anyway.