Jailed rioters could be freed early under overcrowded prison scheme
Downing Street says there is no specific exclusion for those who took part in disorder after Southport knife attack
People jailed for taking part in the violent disorder after the Southport stabbing attack could be released early, Downing Street has said.
Police on Friday said 302 people had been charged with offences including theft, antisocial behaviour and “spreading online hate”, since the incident on 29 July and said there would be more to come.
However, since the Labour government changed the law to allow some criminals to leave prison early because of the prison overcrowding crisis, No 10 has said rioters will not be excluded from this, so they will be able to leave after serving 40% of their sentence.
The government’s early release scheme is to run for at least 18 months, and is expect to release more than 20,000 prisoners, as prisons had been operating at 99% capacity for a year and a half.
When asked whether rioters could be excluded from the scheme, a No 10 spokeswoman said: “There’s no specific exclusion for the rioters, the scheme is as previously set out by the justice secretary.”
“Also, we’re very clear that those who are convicted of serious violence and serve sentences of four years and over, or a terrorism offence, will be excluded,” she added.
Criminals serving time for domestic abuse and sex offences are also exempt from being released early alongside the violent offenders.
Last week, the justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said more than 500 prison places would be opened up to help imprison rioters who have been sentenced.
While tensions appeared to subside over the weekend, the government would remain on “high alert” for any fair-up of violent disorder, Downing Street said.
Keir Starmer has cancelled his planned holiday to Europe in order to “ensure that we can respond to the disorder”, a No 10 spokesperson said, adding: “We welcome that there has been a de-escalation this weekend … but we’re certainly not complacent and remain on high alert.
“We also recognise that the job is not done until people feel safe in their communities, but thanks to the work of our police officers, prosecutors … and judiciary, we have seen a swift response from the justice system.”
The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has condemned “senior politicians and pundits who sought to undermine the legitimacy and authority of the police”, without naming anyone.
Writing in the Telegraph, Cooper said she hoped to work with police “rather than just blaming them from afar, to tackle problems and raise standards”, in an apparent criticism of those who had claimed the UK had “two-tier policing”.
Meanwhile, the campaign group Labour Against Antisemitism (LAAS) accused the backbench MP Clive Lewis of breaching the official definition of antisemitism in a tweet he posted after at least 80 people were killed in three Israeli missile strikes on a school-turned shelter in Gaza City, where according to the territory’s health ministry, about 6,000 people were sheltering.
In a post on X on Saturday, the Labour MP said: “The link between the daily inhumanity being meted out to Palestinians and rising Islamophobia in the UK, are not unconnected. The inhumanity being shown to one is giving ‘permission’ for the other. These actions diminish us all.”
Lewis added in a second post: “Surprised no one picked up on my double-negative and its contribution to the decline of western civilisation.”
LAAS said it had submitted an official complaint to the Labour party.
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