James Wild MP has backed a successful motion in Parliament tabled by the Conservatives to prevent those convicted of sexual offences against children and adults from benefiting from the government’s automatic early prison release scheme, arguing protecting victims and public safety must remain the priority.
Under the Labour government's plans, from September prisoners serving fixed-term sentences could be released early. Thousands of victims have already received letters warning that those responsible for harming them could be freed sooner than expected.
However, the Conservatives’ motion seeks to prevent this and calls on the government to bring forward legislation immediately to exclude anyone convicted of a sexual offence against a child or an adult, including rape, as well as those convicted of attempting, conspiring or inciting such offences.
Speaking in a House of Commons debate on the motion, James set out the stakes for victims and public safety:
“By passing the motion, we can begin the process to prevent those guilty of rape or grooming from being released early, we can provide reassurance to victims that we put their interests first, and we can show that public protection is our priority.”
James challenged ministers warning that victims were being left scared and angry as a result. He said:
"We can already picture the unedifying scenes of bottles of champagne being opened at the prison gates when these offenders are released. Meanwhile, the survivors of their crimes will be feeling scared, heartbroken and angry that their perpetrators are not facing justice.”
He also criticised the government’s claim that the scheme is necessary to prevent the justice system from ‘falling over’, pointing instead to failures to address prison capacity and court availability. He said:
“The Minister once again rolled out the Aunt Sally argument that without these measures the justice system would have fallen over, but it is now two years since the general election - two years in which the Government have chosen to let people out early rather than take action on prison places. Today, for example, 14% of the Crown courts are not sitting. Where is the urgency? That should be a national priority.”
Pressing for clarity on the next steps, James said victims and the public deserved clear answers on how the government would respond if the motion passed. He asked:
“If the Government are to accept the motion, what is their plan? Will they bring forward commencement regulations to delay implementation? Will they table emergency legislation tomorrow, Thursday or next week? We had no response on that from the Minister, which I found deeply disappointing.”
The motion was voted through by 115 votes to nil but ministers look set to ignore it. James will continue to hold ministers to account to ensure it is implemented swiftly and in full.
