Women will pay the price for Labour’s early release prison scheme

For women trying to escape domestic abuse, the government’s early prison release scheme spells further misery. Around 1,700 prisoners will walk free today. A ‘high proportion’ of them will be domestic abusers, according to Nicole Jacobs, the domestic abuse commissioner, who said survivors of domestic violence were ‘paying the price’ for prison overcrowding. Make no mistake: Jacobs is right. Some women will lose their lives as a result of prisoners being released prematurely.

Perpetrators of domestic violence often know where their victims live, where they work and where their kids go to school. The decision to release these criminals early will mean that, across Britain, hundreds of women will be looking over their shoulders, living in fear.

It’s true that Labour does need to do something to fix the crisis of our overcrowded prisons. But any scheme to release inmates early which involves so many violent men is not the answer.