Starmer refuses to promise that domestic abusers will not be released early under emergency measures to combat prison overcrowding

No doubt all the party first before people will say as its being done by Labour its okay - I wonder if local people will riot at early release prisoners taking up hotel rooms?

The Ministry of Justice is keen to distance this policy from the Home Office's housing of migrants in hotels, which costs the taxpayer millions of pounds a day.

"If an offender is at risk of homelessness upon release, they will be housed in community accommodation, and we expect to provide housing for the majority of offenders using existing provision.

"But should there not be enough provision, I have authorised probation directors to make use of alternative arrangements, including budget hotels, as a temporary measure for the cases that we will see in the next few weeks."

https://news.sky.com/story/early-release-prisoners-could-be-housed-in-budget-hotels-justice-secretary-13212309

https://www.womensaid.org.uk/womens-aid-issue-warning-as-more-than-1500-prisoners-across-the-country-are-set-to-be-released-under-the-early-release-scheme/

A No 10 spokesperson said renting prison cells in Estonia had been the policy of the previous government and current ministers had made “no such plans or announcement with regard to Estonia”.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/sep/06/estonia-prisons-uk-criminals

because those Draconian sentences did completely stop the rioting

As not all of the arrests, let alone sentencing had happened by the time the riots stop, I dont think this is the case.

The rioting stopped because??
some people realised they had swallowed total lies??
people (men) thinking they would be met by hundreds like them, found they weren't??
local social pressure, reaction to the ransacking etc., made people (men) realise they weren't really gaining friends??
news coverage depicted them as moronic, gullible hooligans in contrast to sections of society that came together to undo their damage and express sorrow for the horrific deaths of 3 young girls??

What will be interesting is whether in the future reckless "influencers" will be a bit more thoughtful about what they post (I can only remember reading about one who got prosecuted) and whether those looking for a conspiracy to blame anyone but the ruling class that their lives are not as prosperous as they once were will think, hang on asylum seekers with no power didn't stop the building of affordable housing, that was the people we voted for.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy76dxkpjpjo

The temporary scheme, which comes into effect on Tuesday, will see some prisoners released after serving 40% of their sentence behind bars in a bid to ease overcrowding.

There are exemptions from the scheme, including for domestic abusers, but newspapers have reported some domestic violence-related crimes are not always reported as such, leading to concerns these prisoners could be eligible for early release.

The prison population reached a new record high of 88,521 people on Friday and has risen by more than 1,000 people over the past four weeks.

The sharp rise is likely to have been driven by those involved in the recent disorder across parts of the country.

https://www.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk/news/national/24569929.government-doing-everything-prevent-early-release-domestic-abusers/

Ministers are talking tough. “Be in no doubt: we will get you,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer declared at an emergency press conference at the weekend. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper backed him up. “There will be people who were thinking they were going on their summer holidays this week, and instead they will face a knock on the door from the police,” she warned, promising “swift justice” for rioters.

If only they were addressing the thousands of men who rape women or beat up their partners in this country. Few perpetrators will ever have to face a police interview or see the inside of a police cell, even though violence against women is a “national emergency”, according to a report by police chiefs only last month.

https://unherd.com/newsroom/why-are-rioters-being-punished-more-harshly-than-some-rapists/

I think some of the context is missing here.

Yes the Tories started to implement an early release of prisoners, but this has now been intensified by the current Labour Party directive to crack down quickly and sharply on anyone prosecuted for violence during the riots.

These people (mainly men) should of course be prosecuted if identified for committing violence, intimidation, racial abuse or whatever. But what has happened is that (political influence of the system) has meant these prosecutions are being expressed through the courts at a rate that is unprecedented.

ie as one commentator said, because Labour wants to signal how wrong they think these people are (and yes the probably are) the courts are being asked to as it were be seen to / ie perform justice at the expense of those already waiting trial, and the log jam in prisons.

Not quite sure why if Labour wants to be seen as cracking down on rioters, that they dont open up again those abandoned military bases, or even the infamous barge, to house them as they have been for asylum seekers.

So this political posture by Labour for justice for rioters to be seen to be quick and punitive has just added to existing problems

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/will-prisons-run-out-of-space/