Lord Falconer, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, responding to reports in the Times newspaper that Michael Gove is considering cutting jail terms to reduce prison numbers, said:

“Warnings by Lord Woolf, Nick Hardwick and prison governors that the prison system is at breaking point are damning.

“Labour, prison staff and inspectors have all warned for years of the crisis in our prisons. 

“Ministers have repeatedly ignored warnings and failed to act, leaving themselves with no choice but to look at early release regardless of public safety and victims’ wishes.

“Instead of panic measures forced upon them that risk undermining the public’s confidence in our justice system, the Government needs to accept there is a problem and urgently address the systemic issues in our jails.”