British steel industry braced for 2,500 job cuts at the Port Talbot steelworks Yesterday around 1,700 prisoners in England and Wales were let out under an early release scheme announced by the government. Ministers say they have had to do this because the prisons are full. But the Conservatives don’t accept this, and the topic is likely to come up at PMQs.James Cleverly, the shadow home secretary and Tory leadership candidate, told Sky News this morning that this “mass amnesty” was not necessary. He said:The reason there was congestion in our prison system is because unlike many other countries during Covid who decided to prioritise the safety of prisoners and deprioritise the safety of the general population, we decided not to do that.So we kept people in prison. We also kept jury trials. And the combination of those two things meant there was pressure.The last Conservative justice secretary warned Rishi Sunak that if he failed to introduce an early prisoner release scheme (like the one that has been brought in today by Labour) they might need to “get down on their knees and pray” for the criminal justice system.I can reveal Alex Chalk repeatedly spoke to the then prime minister, as well as officials in the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and Downing Street, about what he called a “pray-date” that he warned was no later than mid-June. Continue reading…
Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2024/sep/11/pmqs-keir-starmer-labour-rishi-sunak-conservatives-latest-uk-politics-live-updates
Author : Andrew Sparrow
Publish date : 2024-09-11 09:26:33
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Rachel Reeves says steel is ‘vital part’ of economy before statement about Port Talbot’s Tata plant – UK politics live
