DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Ditch this vile soft justice scheme now

Published: 00:06, 10 August 2026 | Updated: 00:07, 10 August 2026 Labour's early release scheme is already an insult to every single victim of crime. Now, just three weeks before the Government is due to begin freeing thousands of criminals, an analysis shows the awful truth of this degenerate policy. Predictably, letting offenders out of jail early means they are back on the streets and able to run amok. What is astonishing, however, is the diabolical scale of the mayhem they are projected to create. The investigation indicates Labour’s measures will bring about more than 89,000 new victims of crime by the expected date of the next general election. The Conservatives’ calculations are not far-fetched. Recent official figures show reoffending rates have already begun to rise, possibly due to a separate early release scheme that has already seen 70,000 let out. The Government’s new programme is far wider in scope, offering even more generous sentence discounts to a range of criminals, including those convicted of serious sexual and violent crimes – even killers. Without question it is a disaster waiting to happen. Andy Burnham leaves Millbank studios after speaking on LBC's Andrew Marr show on July 2 Labour’s sentencing reforms include other measures which should help keep the prison population at manageable levels for the time being. Prime Minister Andy Burnham should therefore stop this craven, treacherous early release scheme in its tracks – and do so immediately. The trade unions were determined to see Mr Burnham anointed as Britain’s new Prime Minister – and will, of course, expect lavish payback for their staunch support. Lo and behold, measures quietly introduced by Labour last week will skew the awarding of Government contracts towards companies who bend over backwards to please the unions. Firms will have a better chance of securing public sector contracts if they meet a number of requirements. These include giving employees unmeasured time during work hours to carry out union business, ‘progressive’ pay policies and more ‘flexible’ working. The Conservatives said it showed the Government was ‘doing the bidding of their union paymasters’, and would lead to more working from home and four-day weeks. All this will push up the cost of Government procurement and, consequently, lead to higher taxes. It all smacks of the kind of corruption that sanctimonious Labour MPs claim they abhor. But, as ever, they are completely blind to their own hypocrisy. Wokery has contaminated one institution after another, reaching the point where causing someone mild offence can lead to the Old Bill turning up at one’s door. So it is no surprise that Brighton University – coincidentally ranked 104th out of 130 in the UK, according to one league table – is seeking to cash in with Britain’s first ‘BA in Woke’. The fiasco surrounding Cambridge’s ‘plagiarism’ professor Jason Arday will hopefully make our universities scrutinise their blind devotion to ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ policies. Meanwhile, young people should think very carefully before embarking on decades of debt to pay for phony courses that will doom them to the dole queue.