Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has insisted that ministers are serious about tackling the lack of prison spaces as she responded to questions about controversial comments heard in a video by Wes Streeting and Shabana Mahmood.
Alexander told GB News: “Wes has apologised for those remarks. I know Wes well, and I also worked with Shabana Mahmood, the now Home Secretary, when she was Justice Secretary immediately after the general election, what I would say is that I don’t think these remarks reflect the seriousness with which either of those politicians address issues relating to the criminal justice system or the prison system.
“We were confronted with a very difficult scenario when we entered government in the summer of 2024. I was a justice minister at the time. There were days when we had about 100 places left on the prison estate, and if it dropped below that, you reach a point where the judges can’t sentence in the courts and the police can’t arrest people, so no responsible government would have allowed that situation to continue.
“So we had to take some tough but necessary decisions to free up prison space. We’re also building another 14,000 prison spaces, bearing in mind that the previous Conservative government only added a net 500 prison places, which was a dereliction of duty, in my view. With respect, I understand why you asked the question, but Wes has apologised for that joke.
“I think an apology has been made. I think it is really important that your viewers understand what the context of decisions that government has taken are. I wasn’t seeking to score political points. I was setting out some basic facts of the matter, so you know that is why some changes were made to the point at which individuals could be released who had a standard determinate sentence from jail under the Sentencing Act that we’ve put through.
“The most dangerous offenders are excluded from this early release scheme. So, if you’re someone who has been given an extended determinate sentence, or if you’re someone who is serving a live sentence, then you will not be eligible for this early release scheme.
“Difficult but necessary decisions have had to be made about how we manage the space that we’ve got in prisons. That’s why we’ve also put rocket boosters under the prison expansion programme. We’ve committed to building 14,000 additional prison places. 5,000 of those are in construction already. That’s 10 times as many places as the previous government added overall, when you look at the prison closures that happened.”
She added: “As I said, Wes has apologised, and those remarks do not reflect the seriousness with which I know personally Shabana Mahmood, the now Home Secretary, takes these issues. She’s the sort of person who will confront difficult decisions.
“No one is pretending that the situation in our prisons was an easy one to manage. We’ve got to ensure that we are putting the safety of the British people first. That’s why, under the Sentencing Act, those most dangerous offenders are excluded.
“People with extended determinate sentences, life sentences, are not going to be subject to the early release scheme. Most of your viewers would accept that we do have to make sure that there are enough prison places in this country so that the criminal justice system continues.”