Jo Stevens, Labour’s Shadow Justice Minister, responding Liz Truss’s appearance before the Justice Select Committee, said:

“Tory prison policy is in tatters following the Justice Secretary’s absolutely shambolic appearance at the Justice Committee this morning.

“Having overseen a prison crisis with record levels of violence, deaths, drug finds and overcrowding, she repeatedly failed to provide a single detail of what she will do about it.

“Urgent action is long overdue and the Prison Reform Bill was the central piece of this year’s lightweight Queen’s Speech, but today she refused to confirm its fate.

“By failing to tackle the prisons crisis which developed on their watch, the Tories have yet again demonstrated that they have no plan for the challenges this country faces.”

Ends