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Burnham caught up in early release prison row

24 July 202614 views0

Andy Burnham paused an early prisoner release scheme on Thursday, just three days into his premiership, ordering that no offenders be freed under the policy until an urgent review has been completed.

The scheme forms part of the Sentencing Act 2026, passed under the Starmer government in January and due to come into force in September. It introduced what officials called an “earned progression model,” under which prisoners who demonstrate good behaviour could become eligible for release having served roughly a third of their sentence, with the remainder overseen through strict supervision and electronic tagging. Violent offenders were included; sex offenders would qualify at the halfway point of their sentence subject to compliance with prison rules.

The decision to pause came after victims and their families began receiving Ministry of Justice letters informing them that offenders could be freed ahead of their expected release dates. Among those affected were Albert Bowers and Jessie Cole, who were sentenced to 13 years each in 2020 for the manslaughter of PC Andrew Harper, a Thames Valley Police officer killed while responding to a theft in Berkshire in 2019. Henry Long, the driver of the vehicle responsible for Harper’s death, was given a 16-year term and is not eligible for the scheme. PC Harper’s mother, Debbie Adlam, described the notification letter as an “insult.” His widow Lissie called the plan “deplorable.” Victims of the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal were also among those contacted.

Burnham confirmed he is working with the Justice Secretary to conduct the review, and said no prisoners would be released until it is complete and changes, where necessary, are made. Rotherham MP Sarah Champion welcomed the pause, calling on the government to ensure exemptions cover sex offenders and child abusers.

The underlying problem that prompted the legislation has not gone away. Officials have warned that England and Wales’s prison estate remains under severe pressure, with capacity concerns acute enough that Starmer’s government felt a legislative response was unavoidable. Probation services are separately reported to be struggling with existing caseloads, casting doubt on how a large-scale early release programme would have been managed in practice.

Right-leaning outlets led the story as a law-and-order failure, foregrounding the Harper case with emotionally charged language and framing the pause as a prime minister bowing to public outrage. Left-leaning coverage was more likely to contextualise the policy within the broader prison overcrowding crisis, presenting the pause as a politically sensitive response to a genuine structural problem, and noting that the underlying capacity challenge remains unresolved regardless of the announcement.