Thousands of UK prisoners to be freed early to ease overcrowding

Inmate population close to full capacity; plan will not apply to offenders of serious crimes

In one of its first big decisions, Britain's new Labour government on July 12 announced the early release of thousands of prisoners, blaming the need to do so on a legacy of neglect and underinvestment under the Conservative Party, which lost last week's general election after 14 years in power.

With the system nearly at capacity and some of the country's aged prison buildings crumbling, the plan is aimed at avoiding an overcrowding crisis that some had feared might soon explode.

But with crime a significant political issue, the decision is a sensitive one and Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a former chief prosecutor, lost no time in pointing to his predecessors to explain the need for early releases.

"We knew it was going to be a problem, but the scale of the problem was worse than we thought, and the nature of the problem is pretty unforgivable in my book," Mr Starmer said, speaking ahead of the decision while attending a Nato summit in Washington.

There were, he told reporters, "far too many prisoners for the prison places that we've got".

"I can't build a prison in the first seven days of a Labour government - we will have to have a long-term answer to this," he added.

Under the new government's plan, those serving some sentences in England and Wales will be released after serving 40 per cent of their sentence, rather than at the midway point at which many are freed "on licence", a kind of parole.

The even earlier releases will not apply to those convicted of more serious crimes, including sexual offences, serious violence and terrorism.