Britain is set to employ an emergency measure to detain suspected criminals in police station cells until it can secure space for them in its overcrowded prisons, following the arrest of hundreds in connection with widespread rioting this month. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government announced on Monday that the arrests of over 1,100 suspects linked to racist violence targeting migrants and Muslims had exacerbated the prison capacity crisis. This crisis has already compelled ministers to allow jails to release more prisoners early. The new, temporary measure will ensure that suspects are only brought to court when a cell is confirmed to be available in one of the over 100 prisons nationwide. Until then, they will be held in police stations.
"We inherited a justice system in crisis and vulnerable to shocks," said prisons minister James Timpson in a statement. "Consequently, we have had to make difficult but necessary decisions to keep it functioning." Overcrowded prisons have posed an early crisis for Starmer, who assumed office last month, forcing his government to make unpalatable and costly choices. Britain has the highest rate of incarceration in western Europe, and prisoner numbers have surged sharply since the pandemic, due to longer sentences, court delays, and a requirement for serious offenders to serve at least 65 percent of their sentences in prison.
Under plans announced by Starmer last month, most prisoners will be eligible for release after serving 40 percent of their sentences, down from 50 percent previously. Monday's measures are anticipated to address lower prison capacity in the north of England, a region impacted by the recent rioting, which was sparked by misinformation that the suspect in the murder of three young girls was an Islamist migrant.
