More prisoners have been recalled to jail than have been released early, it has been revealed. Tory analysis of official data has shown 54,354 prisoners have been recalled to jail for reoffending or breaching their licence, while 49,000 have been released early since Labour came to power in July 2024.
Since September 2024, under then-Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s Standard Determinate Sentence 40 (SDS40), prisoners can be released after serving just 40 per cent of their sentence, rather than the standard 50 per cent.The Ministry of Justice said the analysis was misleading. Recall data can include the same offender returning to prison multiple times, as well as prisoners released years earlier who had only now breached their conditions.
But the figures still tell a marked rise.Between January and March 2023, 6,824 prisoners were recalled, and for the same time in 2024, that figure stood at 7,415.However, fast-forward to that three-month period 2025, six months after Labour assumed power, that figure had jumped to 10,101.It is noted, however, that the figure did increase in the Tories’ final few months in office, where it jumped between from 7,415 to 9,782 between January and June 2024.
More prisoners have been recalled to jail than have been released early, it has been revealed (file pic) | GETTY
Shadow Justice Secretary, Nick Timothy, said: “Labour has turned our prisons into a revolving door for criminals. They are letting out sex offenders and thieves early instead of deporting more foreign offenders.”To the surprise of nobody, these criminals have continued to act against the law and break the rules. This is utterly corrosive to public safety and inflicts more harm and suffering on the British public.”While Labour tolerates this lawlessness, the pressure on our prisons has not eased. What we need is a radical plan for our prisons. Not Lammy’s surrender to crime.”Labour is set to implement new laws that could see prisoners be freed as little as a third of the way through their sentence, providing they are well behaved and engage in work, education and training rehabilitation schemes.
Additionally, more community punishments and an increase on the use of electronic tags for sentences of 12 months or under are to be introduced, with the Government warning that prisons could soon run out of space if new reforms are not introduced.When announcing the SDS40 scheme, Ms Mahmood said: “In short if we fail to act now, we face the collapse of the criminal justice system. And a total breakdown of law and order”.As of December 2025, MoJ figures showed the prison population at 87,063, leaving just 2,287 prison spaces left in England and Wales.With Britain’s population projected to increase to a total of 103,600 by March 2030, it means that an additional 14,250 spaces will be required within five years in order to accommodate the expected number of inmates. This would also leave zero headroom.MORE TO FOLLOW…