Will prisoners still serving indefinite jail terms get out?

Judging by the latest developments in parliament, there is still no sign that one of the most egregious abuses of human rights in Britain is going to be resolved.

- SEAN O'GRADY

Following a passionate debate in the House of Lords - for so long a doughty, if unlikely, bastion against the abuse of power - it appears that the plight of the 2,700 or so prisoners still held in prisons long after their sentences have been served will continue to go unanswered, or at least in anything like the timely fashion demanded.

They are the last of those once placed in custody under the Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) regime, which was abolished in 2012. By any normal standard of justice, what has happened to these people is a disgrace in a civilised society...

What’s the issue?

These men and women are the forgotten vestiges of an extraordinary system introduced by the last Labour government in 2005. It was meant to deal with those who had committed sometimes minor crimes but were determined by the court to present a danger to the public – so they’d be off the streets until things changed.