Key Points
- Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf said Labour is “continuing this failure” and pledged that Reform would deport all foreign nationals in prison and end early release for violent offenders.
- Conservative peer Lord Garnier argued the government should release non-violent women instead of dangerous criminals to ease prison overcrowding.
- Labour frontbencher Lord Katz said the issue required “more sophisticated responses” than the “very simplistic” solution suggested by Lord Garnier.
- Crossbencher Lord Pannick questioned why releasing lower-risk prisoners, such as those serving 10 years or less, could not reduce overcrowding “adequately”.
- Prison officers’ union chief Steve Gillan said it was “right” to pause the early release scheme while the risks to the public are examined.
- Ministry of Justice figures show 60,108 prisoners were released under Labour’s temporary early release scheme between September 2024 and December 2025.
- The same figures show the previous Conservative government’s temporary scheme released 10,082 offenders early between October 2023 and June 2024.
UK (Liverpool standard) July 23, 2026 – As reported by journalists covering the developing story, Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf used the pause to attack both Labour and the Conservatives, saying the Tories had imported “6.5 million people on 14 years” while adding only “455 prison places” and claiming Labour was now continuing that failure.
He said Reform would “deport all foreign nationals in our jails” and use the space to end early release so violent criminals “stay where they belong: in jail”.
That intervention places immigration, prison capacity and sentencing policy into the same political argument, which is likely to intensify the row around the government’s decision.
What did Tory and crossbench peers say?
Before the pause was announced, Conservative former solicitor general Lord Garnier suggested ministers should free non-violent women from prison instead of releasing dangerous offenders.
He told peers there were 3,650 women in prison in England and Wales, and about 2,500 of them, or 70%, were in custody for non-violent offences.
Lord Garnier said that if the government thought it was better to release violent criminals and sex offenders rather than non-violent female prisoners to free up space, then “what the hell do they think they’re doing?”
How did Labour and others respond?
Labour frontbencher Lord Katz pushed back, saying there were “more sophisticated responses” to what he described as a very simplistic problem.
Independent crossbencher Lord Pannick also weighed in, questioning why releasing prisoners who are not serving the most severe sentences, such as those serving 10 years or less, could not reduce prisoner numbers adequately.
Their comments show that debate in the Lords is not only about whether to pause the scheme, but also about which categories of prisoners should be considered if overcrowding remains severe.
Why did the prison union back the pause?
Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers’ Association, said prisons had been overcrowded for many years and blamed the previous government for part of the problem.
He said it was right that Andy Burnham and the new Justice Secretary Alex Norris examine the risks to the public if prisoners are released too early.
Gillan added that the pause was correct to ensure there was adequate public protection and that victims of crime were put first.
How many prisoners had already been released?
According to Ministry of Justice figures quoted in the reporting, 60,108 prisoners were released under Labour’s early release scheme between September 2024 and December 2025.
The scheme applied to some prisoners in England and Wales serving fixed-length terms, allowing release after 40% of their sentence, and was described by Justice Minister Jake Richards as a “bridge to a more sustainable solution”.
That replacement was meant to come through the Sentencing Act 2026, but its early release provisions have now been paused.
What does the Conservative record show?
The Ministry of Justice figures also show that the earlier Conservative temporary scheme released 10,082 offenders early between October 2023 and June 2024.
That scheme started by allowing some prisoners to be released up to 18 days before their release date, then expanded to 35 days and later to 70 days.
Both governments said those prisoners were still subject to strict licence conditions, which is part of why the policy remains politically contested rather than straightforward.
Background of this development
This row sits inside a longer dispute about prison overcrowding and how to manage sentence lengths without undermining public confidence.
Labour introduced its temporary scheme in September 2024 as a stopgap, and the Sentencing Act 2026 was meant to create a longer-term framework.
The pause now raises fresh questions about whether the government will narrow eligibility, exclude more serious offenders, or rely on other measures to free up prison space.
Prediction
For prisoners and prison staff, the immediate effect is more uncertainty over who will be released and when.
For opposition parties and Reform UK, the pause gives them a fresh opening to argue that the government is reactive rather than strategic on criminal justice.
For the wider public, the debate is likely to shift towards whether prison overcrowding should be solved through early release, more prison places, or tougher rules on foreign nationals and serious offenders.
