Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, commenting on the on-going crisis in prison numbers, said:
 
“For four weeks in a row, the emergency in our prisons system has got steadily worse. Yet, the Government’s silence is deafening, and they are showing a startling mix of incompetence and complacency. It really is the most basic task of any Justice Secretary to ensure there’s enough space for locking up criminals.

“There are just 658 places left in our prisons and the system is over 99 per cent full. Yet this out of touch Government are closing down four more prisons by next spring, cutting 1,400 places. If their reckless plans go ahead, we risk being left with hundreds of prisoners with no secure place to lock them away. This is breath-taking incompetence, and the Government must halt the planned closures until we can be confident there is sufficient space in our prisons.”