Send prisoners to foreign jails - Tories' radical plan to tackle overcrowding crisis and stop early release of offenders

By MICHAEL BLACKLEY, SCOTTISH POLITICAL EDITOR FOR THE DAILY MAIL Published: 00:46, 6 April 2026 | Updated: 00:46, 6 April 2026 Prisoners should be sent to foreign jails to tackle overcrowding and prevent the early release of more inmates, according to the Scottish Conservatives. The party has unveiled radical plans to free up space in Scotland’s prisons by renting out cells in other countries which have more free capacity. The Scottish Conservative manifesto, to be unveiled tomorrow (TUE), will set out the plan to pay for cells abroad, which is based on an existing agreement between Sweden and Estonia. It said the action would help bring the ‘reckless’ early release of criminals, which has been used by the SNP to tackle prison overcrowding, to an end. Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said: ‘Our common-sense plans would put an end to the SNP’s reckless early-release schemes. ‘Nationalist ministers have thrown open the prison gates and allowed thousands of inmates back into the community too soon, putting public safety at risk and making a mockery of judicial sentencing. ‘Our legislation would let us send inmates to foreign jails to serve the remainder of their sentences in full, at the same time as we addressed the SNP’s abject failure to expand prison capacity in Scotland. ‘On May 7th, you can stop an SNP majority and their relentless weakening of Scotland’s justice system by voting Scottish Conservative on your peach ballot paper.’ Overcrowding in prisons has led to the early release of inmates in Scotland but Scottish Tories suggest shipping prisoners abroad to serve their sentences The Tory manifesto criticises SNP ministers for releasing thousands of prisoners early ‘due to their failure to get control of the prison population’. It says it would develop new legislation to send prisoners abroad to prevent the need for early release, and that this would be modelled on Sweden’s agreement with Estonia to rent up to 600 places for up to five years. Sweden struck the deal with Estonia last year to rent 400 cells in a prison in Tartu, south-east of the country, to accommodate up to 600 prisoners. It turned to the measure to alleviate its own prison overcrowding crisis. The cost of a prisoner is estimated to be EUR 8,500, or around £7,420 in Estonia, excluding costs of transporting them from Sweden. SNP ministers forced through four tranches of ‘emergency’ release of prisoners which saw 415 inmates being by earlier this year, with 200 more set to follow by this month. In addition, they forced through legislation to lower the early release point from 40 per cent of a sentence to only 30 per cent – which would instantly reduce the prison population by between 239 and 312. Any criminal serving a sentence of less than four years will be eligible, apart from those serving sentences for domestic abuse or sexual offences. Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Liam Kerr added: ‘Dangerous prisoners should always serve their sentences in full, but the SNP have given them a get-out-of-jail free card in recent years. ‘That is an insult to victims, whose needs always come last under the SNP. ‘Our bold plans would protect public safety and properly punish criminals. It is time to end two decades of SNP soft-touch justice.’ An SNP spokesman said: ‘Action on prison overcrowding is a real issue and requires serious solutions - not bizarre plans from a Tory party who know they will never need to implement them. ‘The Tories seemingly won’t even tell us how much this fanciful plan would cost - and where they would find the money given they want to reduce public spending by cutting taxes on the rich. They are just not serious.’ Meanwhile, the Scottish Tory manifesto will also pledge to scrap the land and buildings transaction tax, which is charged on house purchases, to tackle the housing emergency. The move would apply to primary residences only in order to help first-time buyers and families. It will also pledge to cut excessive red tape and scrap any new costs imposed on builders or households in pursuit of net zero targets. Scottish Conservative housing spokesman Meghan Gallacher said: ‘Hard-working Scots who do the right thing are being punished, priced out of owning a home and left feeling like they’re getting nowhere. ‘Our plan is about restoring hope, increasing the housing stock and backing aspiration. That’s why we’d scrap LBTT to make it easier to buy a home, cut the SNP’s costly regulations, and deliver 80,000 affordable homes across Scotland.’ No comments have so far been submitted. 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