Labour's controversial early release scheme for offenders could imperil public safety in the UK, police and security agencies have warned.
Senior figures in MI5, the NCA, the Metropolitan Police and more have written to Labour saying that prisoners roaming Britain's streets could pose a "net detriment to public safety" in light of plans to release them just one-third of the way into their sentences.
"We have to ensure that out of court does not mean out of justice, and that out of prison does not mean out of control," they vowed in their warning to the Ministry of Justice.
Security bosses have also demanded £300million in Rachel Reeves's looming spending review to "control the additional offending population at large" - and have called for "high-risk offenders" like child abusers to remain behind bars.
Bosses have demanded a nine-figure funding allocation in Rachel Reeves's looming spending review
PA"Russian, Iranian and Chinese state-linked actors" could also be released earlier, the figures said, adding that it is "vital we retain sentencing that provides a strong deterrent" to foreign adversaries.
The letter's signatories, The Times reports, include Met Police head Sir Mark Rowley, the MI5 deputy director-general, NCA director-general Graeme Biggar, Gavin Stephens, the chairman of the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) Gavin Stephens and more.
"On the basis of what we understand at the moment, we are concerned that the proposals could be of net detriment to public safety and certainty to public confidence in policing and the criminal justice system," they said.
"We are not arguing for the status quo. But we have to ensure that out of court does not mean out of justice, and out of prison does not mean out of control."
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The letter's signatories include Met Police head Sir Mark Rowley
PAShadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick later branded the release scheme a "recipe for a crime wave" following the news that security chiefs have written to the MoJ.
"MI5, NCA and the Met Police ALL warn Labour's plan to cut sentences risks public safety. This is unprecedented," he said.
"Up to 43,000 criminals could escape a prison sentence under Starmer's plans.
"Killers and rapists will have their sentence slashed. It's a recipe for a crime wave."
'Killers and rapists will have their sentence slashed. It's a recipe for a crime wave,' Robert Jenrick fumedPAThe Ministry of Justice, responding to today's letter, said: "This Government inherited prisons in crisis, close to collapse.
"We will never put the public at risk by running out of prison places again.
"We are building new prisons, on track for 14,000 places by 2031 - the largest expansion since the Victorians.
"Our sentencing reforms will force prisoners to earn their way to release or face longer in jail for bad behaviour, while ensuring the most dangerous offenders can be kept off our streets.
"We will also increase probation funding by up to £700million by 2028-29 to tag and monitor tens of thousands more offenders in the community."
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