Speaking in the House of Commons, James Wild MP has criticised proposals that would allow serious offenders to be released after serving only a third of their sentence, simply for complying with prison rules.
James challenged the Lord Chancellor on the rationale behind the “earned progression” concept, questioning how reducing custodial sentences on the basis of basic compliance upholds the principles of justice or reflects the rights and interests of victims.
James argued that serious crimes must carry serious consequences, and warned that such a policy risks eroding public confidence in the justice system. He emphasised that sentencing must not be reduced to a reward for expected behaviour but should instead reflect the severity of the offence.
James Wild MP said:
“In her statement, the Lord Chancellor said under her earned progression plans if offenders follow prison rules they will win an earlier release and the review says that thousands of offenders will benefit from this. Can she explain to my constituents why simply following the rules means serious offenders would only serve 1/3 of their sentence? Where’s the punishment and victims’ interest in that approach?
In response, the Lord Chancellor, Shabana Mahmood MP, said:
“He will know that the track record of his party and government was to run prisons boiling hot with violence off the charts and, you know, the Shadow Justice Secretary has been showing a huge amount of concern for prison officers and the violence that they face in our prisons and I would have hoped that the party opposite might welcome some incentivisation in our prison system to make sure we can run safer prisons and keep our prison officers safe, making sure that people follow the rules and that’s how they can earn an early release and also means that for those who break the rules they will service longer in prison.”
