Commenting on the third rise in prison numbers in three weeks, Shadow Justice Secretary Sadiq Khan MP said:
 
“For three weeks in a row, the prisons system has been in the danger zone. One of the very basic responsibilities of any justice system is having enough space to lock up criminals, but the Tory-led Government has shown itself to be incapable of doing this.
 
“Prison numbers are going up and prison places are going down. The fact that this is at a time when fewer arrests are being made and fewer crimes solved compounds the incompetence of the Justice Secretary. Chris Grayling’s stewardship of the Ministry of Justice is very worrying.
 
“Each week there’s less and less space, and the crisis gets worse. Yet Ministers have said nothing. Their silence is a sign of their utter denial on the issue. This out-of-touch Government doesn’t seem to care less that IT could run out of space to lock up serious and violent offenders.”