Aysu Biçer
22 July 2026•Update: 22 July 2026
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Wednesday that he would review the government’s controversial prisoner early release policy.
He said he and new Justice Secretary Alex Norris would "review the [early release] policy together and make further statements in due course," Sky News reported.
While acknowledging that "nobody can deny the pressure on prison places," Burnham said he wanted to "assure myself that everything has been looked at before this policy proceeds."
"I can’t say that I can change the policy completely, but I will look at it in detail before we go further forward," he added.
Burnham was responding to reports that two of the three men convicted over the killing of police officer Andrew Harper could be eligible for early release.
"The main perpetrator will not be subject to any early release" -- although he added that "others involved have potentially been identified," he said.
Burnham also said it was "not" acceptable for two senior ministers, Wes Streeting and Shabana Mahmood, to joke about the early release scheme after they were recorded doing so on Tuesday. Both have apologized.
The Sentencing Act 2026 comes into force in September and will make thousands of offenders eligible for earlier release as the government seeks to ease pressure on prison capacity.
Under the changes, many prisoners who are currently released after serving 40% of their sentence will instead become eligible for release after serving 33% from the autumn.
