Starmer says ‘terrible inheritance’ to blame for emergency prison measures
The government is “managing the risk” to public safety with its emergency measures to prevent prisons from overcrowding, Sir Keir Starmer said.
Speaking during a trip to Belfast, the prime minister blamed the “terrible inheritance” from the Conservative government and the recent far-right riots on his need to activate Operation Early Dawn.
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The long-standing contingency mechanism delays defendants being summoned to a magistrates’ court until a prison space becomes available, should they be remanded into custody.
It was previously used by the Conservative government and allows defendants to be kept in police cells when prisons reach full capacity.
Asked whether the plan posed a risk to public safety in respect of policing resources being diverted, or more prisoners being bailed, Sir Keir said the government was making “really tough decisions, and nobody wants to take them”.
He blamed this on the “terrible inheritance of prisons that we had as an incoming government from the previous government”.
“There was a basic failure, which is a failure to have enough prison places for the number of prisoners that were being sentenced to prison,” the prime minister said.
“That was about as basic a failure of government from the previous government that you could possibly have got.
“We’ve had to deal with that with the additional strain of the disorder in recent weeks.”
Pressed on the threat to public safety, Sir Keir said the government is “managing that risk… to make sure we do have the spaces available for the prisoners”.
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Do prisons have space for rioters?
Pointing to the swift response to the riots, the PM added: “I think the response of the criminal justice to the recent disorders has been a major reason that the disorders have subsided for the time being.”
Prosecutors have been trying to fast-track cases of people accused of involvement in the recent riots in parts of the UK, with over 1,000 arrests and 400 charges made so far and lengthy sentences handed down to those found guilty.
The disorder erupted following the spread of misinformation online after the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport.
The Ministry of Justice said that in taking “decisive action to tackle violent thuggery on our streets”, the UK’s longstanding capacity issues in prisons, which it said had been operating at critical levels for the last several years, had been exacerbated.
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Operation Early Dawn will be put in place in the North East and Yorkshire, Cumbria and Lancashire, and Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire regions.
Downing Street said the plans could be triggered and deactivated several times over the next few weeks as needed.
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The move has concerned prison bosses and legal experts.
Tom Franklin, chief executive of the Magistrates’ Association, said the measures would lead to delays in defendants appearing in court.
Mark Fairhurst, national chairman of the Prison Officers’ Association, said while the most serious offenders would still end up in court and be guaranteed a prison cell, less serious offenders would either spend longer in police cells or be bailed.
However, he clarified that this would not mean that some people who would normally go to jail would avoid it.
Rioting broke out in Southport after the fatal stabbing of three girls. Pic: PA
Nick Emmerson, president of the Law Society of England and Wales, said that reactivating Operation Early Dawn would impact victims, defendants, and lawyers, and that sustained investment is needed in the criminal justice system “to avoid it collapsing completely”.
Operation Early Dawn was triggered by the Conservative government in May in a bid to tackle overcrowding in jails.
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Last month, the Ministry of Justice said violence and self-harm in prison had risen to “unacceptable” levels as overcrowding pushed jails to the “point of collapse”.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced plans to cut the proportion of the sentence inmates must serve behind bars from 50% to 40%.
The temporary move – which does not apply to those convicted of sex offences, terrorism, domestic abuse or some violent offences – is expected to result in 5,500 offenders being released in September and October.
Migrants convicted of sex offences in the UK or overseas will be unable to claim asylum under government plans to change the law to improve border security.
The Home Office announcement means foreign nationals who are added to the sex offenders register will forfeit their rights to protection under the Refugee Convention.
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As part of the 1951 UN treaty, countries are allowed to refuse asylum to terrorists, war criminals and individuals convicted of a “particularly serious crime” – which is currently defined in UK law as an offence carrying a sentence of 12 months or more.
The government now plans to extend that definition to include all individuals added to the Sex Offenders’ Register, regardless of the length of sentence, in an amendment to the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, which is currently going through parliament. It’s understood they also hope to include those convicted of equivalent crimes overseas.
Those affected will still be able to appeal their removal from the UK in the courts under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
More than 10,000 people have now been detected crossing the Channel. Pic: PA
It is unclear how many asylum seekers will be affected, as the government has been unable to provide any projections or past data on the number of asylum seekers added to the Sex Offenders’ Register.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Sex offenders who pose a risk to the community should not be allowed to benefit from refugee protections in the UK.
“We are strengthening the law to ensure these appalling crimes are taken seriously.”
Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls Minister Jess Philips said: “We are determined to achieve our mission of halving violence against women and girls in a decade.
“That’s exactly why we are taking action to ensure there are robust safeguards across the system, including by clamping down on foreign criminals who commit heinous crimes like sex offences.”
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The Home Office would like voters to see this as a substantial change. But that’s hard to demonstrate without providing any indication of the scale of the problem it seeks to solve.
Clearly, the government does not want to fan the flames of resentment towards asylum seekers by implying large numbers have been committing sex crimes.
But amid rising voter frustration about the government’s grip on the issue, and under pressure from Reform – this measure is about signalling it is prepared to take tough action.
Conservatives: ‘Too little, too late’
The Conservatives claim Labour are engaged in “pre-election posturing”.
Chris Philp MP, the shadow home secretary, said: “This is too little, too late from a Labour government that has scrapped our deterrent and overseen the worst year ever for small boat crossings – with a record 10,000 people crossing this year already.
“Foreign criminals pose a danger to British citizens and must be removed, but so often this is frustrated by spurious legal claims based on human rights claims, not asylum claims.”
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The Home Office has also announced plans to introduce a 24-week target for appeal hearings (known as “first-tier tribunals”) to be held for rejected asylum seekers living in taxpayer-supported accommodation, or for foreign national offenders.
The current average wait is 50 weeks. The idea is to cut the asylum backlog and save taxpayers money – Labour have committed to end the use of asylum hotels by the end of this parliament.
It’s unclear how exactly this will be achieved, although a number of additional court days have already been announced.
The government also plans to crack down on fake immigration lawyers who advise migrants on how to lodge fraudulent asylum claims, with the Immigration Advice Authority given new powers to issue fines of up to £15,000.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has called on government officials to address questions related to US President Donald Trump’s memecoin and his media company.
In an April 25 letter to Jamieson Greer, acting director of the US Office of Government Ethics (OGE), Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts and California Democratic Senator Adam Schiff requested that officials address concerns about Trump’s memecoin after the president announced a dinner and White House tour for some of the individuals who held the most TRUMP tokens. The two senators requested that Greer provide information on safeguards and guidelines related to whether foreign actors and others could buy political influence with the president, potentially impacting his policy positions and federal pardons.
“President Trump’s announcement promises exclusive access to the presidency in exchange for significant investment in one of the President’s business ventures,” wrote the two senators.
“In promising such access, this proposition may implicate several federal ethics laws and constitutional prohibitions, including the federal bribery statute and emoluments clauses of the US Constitution. It also raises the troubling prospect that foreign actors are using the memecoin as a vector to buy influence with President Trump and his associates without needing to disclose their identities publicly.”
The letter was sent the same day Warren reportedly expressed similar concerns about Trump’s potential conflicts of interest with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to an April 25 Reuters report, the Massachusetts senator urged SEC Chair Paul Atkins to ensure that oversight of Trump’s media company was “free from undue political interference and influence from the President and his administration.”
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Though ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, Warren does not have the authority to direct Congress’s agenda with Democrats in the minority. Two Democrats in the Senate and House of Representatives have already called for Trump’s impeachment over his memecoin dinner.
Warren added:
“The American people deserve the unwavering assurance that access to the presidency is not being offered for sale to the highest bidder in exchange for the President’s own financial gain.”
At the time of publication, it was unclear who among the top TRUMP memecoin holders would attend the dinner, scheduled to be held on May 22 at Trump’s golf club in Washington, DC. Speculation and analysis of users suggested that Trump supporters, including Tron founder Justin Sun, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and others, could attend, though none had been confirmed as of April 28.
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Crypto users betting on the outcome of the snap election to determine the next Prime Minister of Canada appear to be favoring a Liberal Party victory as residents head to cast their votes.
As of April 28, cryptocurrency betting platform Polymarket gave current Canadian Prime Minister and Liberal Party candidate Mark Carney a 79% chance of defeating Conservative Party candidate Pierre Poilievre in the race for the country’s next PM. Data from the platform showed users had poured more than $75 million into bets surrounding the race, predicting a Poilievre or Carney victory.
The odds suggested by the platform, as well as those from many polls, show a nearly complete reversal of fortunes between the two candidates after former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau resigned in January. Trudeau and, by association, many in the Liberal Party, faced criticism over the handling of Canada’s housing crisis and questions about how he would face US President Donald Trump’s then-proposed tariffs.
Following Trudeau’s resignation, Trump stepped up rhetoric disparaging Canada, repeatedly referring to the country as the US’s “51st state” and Trudeau as its “governor.” The US President also imposed a 25% tariff on goods imported from Canada in March. The policies seem to have led to increasing anti-Trump sentiment in Canada, with many residents booing the US national anthem at hockey games and making comparisons between the president and Poilievre.
This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.
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