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Sir Keir Starmer is facing demands to end the injustice of almost 3,000 prisoners being trapped under abolished indefinite jail terms as he prepares to oversee the mass early release of inmates to ease overcrowding.
A 70-strong coalition of criminal justice experts, campaigners and human rights lawyers has called on the Ministry of Justice under the Labour government to act swiftly to help end the scandal of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences.
The architect of the flawed sentences, former New Labour home secretary Lord Blunkett, told The Independent he backed demands for urgent action from the new government to help IPP prisoners.
The calls come as the prime minister is set to announce a series of emergency measures to free up cells after he revealed he was “shocked” at the scale of the crisis he inherited from the Tories.
Sir Keir called the situation “beyond irresponsible” with prisons set to reach capacity within weeks. New justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, is widely expected to use a major speech on Friday to unveil measures aimed at easing the crisis.
Campaigners issued their demands for IPP reform after 121 people had taken their lives under “the cruel, inhumane and degrading” sentences – including 90 in prison and 31 in the community.
Clara White, whose brother Thomas recently set himself alight after serving more than 12 years for stealing a mobile phone, warned more lives will be lost if the government does not act.
The coalition of voices, including Amnesty International, the general secretary of the Prison Officers Association and the Prison Reform Trust, join The Independent in calling for an urgent review of IPP sentences as the country is set to run out of prison spaces within weeks.
It is understood there are just 689 spaces left in adult male prisons.
Lord Blunkett told The Independent: “I think this is an excellent initiative with the right kind of asks. I know that the secretary of state, and the new prison, parole and probation minister will want to address these challenges at a very early stage in developing their priorities for action.
“We are, of course, only a week from the election so it will take some time for the new incumbents to be able to fully lay out their plans, but in the meantime, building on the progress made in the Victims and Prisoners Act will be a critical milestone.”
Experts say ending the IPP injustice would eventually free up three or four entire prisons at a time when the government is set to announce drastic emergency measures to ease overcrowding, including releasing prisoners on standard determinate sentences after serving just 40 per cent of their jail time.
Former justice secretary Alex Chalk has revealed that the last government planned to release some prisoners after serving 40 per cent of their time, but the plans were not implemented for fears it would damage the Tories’ electoral chances.
On Thursday, Sir Keir said: “I’m shocked to be in this position, particularly having worked in criminal justice. It is a basic function of government that there should be enough prison places for the number of people that courts are sending to prison. That basic premise broke down under the last government. That is beyond irresponsible, and we’re going to have to pick up that mess and they ignored it.”
The IPP jail terms – under which offenders were given a minimum tariff but no maximum – were scrapped in 2012 amid human rights concerns. But the abolition of the policy did not affect those already sentenced, leaving thousands trapped in jail for years beyond their original prison terms.
Of 2,796 IPP prisoners currently incarcerated, 708 have served at least 10 years longer than their minimum tariff. Many were first jailed for minor or non-violent crimes.
They include tragic cases highlighted by The Independent such as those of Yusuf Ali, who did not eat for 61 days as he lost hope of ever being freed from his IPP sentence; Wayne Williams, who has spent 18 years in prison on a 23-month tariff for attempting to injure a police officer in a fight; and Thomas White, who has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in prison after serving more than 12 years for stealing a phone.
His sister Clara, who is campaigning for him to be transferred to a mental health hospital, told The Independent: “If this government doesn’t do anything, the only way the IPP population will go down is because they keep taking their own lives.
“My brother has already tried it twice – again just recently – and he’s not the only one.
“How can a government run out of prison spaces when campaigners like myself are fighting for IPPs? If you resentence IPPs you will free up three prisons.”
In the past year, three coroners have issued prevention of future deaths notices following the deaths of IPP prisoners.
One example, highlighted by this publication, was of Scott Rider, whose case was branded “inhumane and indefensible” by a coroner following his suicide 17 years into a 23-month sentence.
Richard Garside, director of charity the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS), said it was clear the sentences pose a “clear and present danger”.
He said he hoped the new prime minister’s background in human rights law would help him to see the injustice facing IPP prisoners.
He added: “I hope he would also recognise the pragmatic argument for this. Prime Minister, you are running out of places in your prisons literally within weeks. Here is a group of 3,000 people – this really should be a bit of a no-brainer.”
In an open letter, campaigners called for the new government to set up a committee of experts to advise on resentencing all IPP prisoners. This was recommended by the cross-party justice committee in 2022 but refused by the Conservative government.
They also called for changes to reduce the licence period from 10 to three years, recently passed as part of the Victims and Prisoners Bill, to be implemented as soon as possible.
They also demanded that the government set out clear plans to help IPP prisoners as soon as possible in parliament.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “The prison system is in crisis and we recognise the significant impact this is having on our whole justice system.
“It is right that IPP sentences were abolished. The Lord Chancellor is committed to working with organisations and campaign groups to ensure the appropriate course of action is taken to support those still serving IPP sentences and will respond to this letter in due course.”
