Reducing the number of criminals in prison does not mean the Government has gone soft on justice, Cabinet Office Minister Alex Burghart has said.
He told GB News, during PMQs Live: “We’re not soft on justice. Custodial sentences have gone up under this government.
“The number of serious offenders being detained for longer has gone up under this government, violent crime and burglary are down by 50% over the past ten years.
“These are major achievements that have been made possible by the UK government.”
He added: “We do need more police prison places. And that's why the Government is investing in just that.
“We have 10,000 more prison places coming online next year, another 10,000 coming after that. It's the biggest investment in the prison estate since Victorian times, and it's going to make a real difference.
“One of the other things that the Justice Secretary is doing which is extremely important is he's taking steps to send foreign national offenders back to the countries that they came from…to free up capacity.”
Labour’s Shadow Education Minister Matt Western said: “The Government promised 20,000 more prison places. They committed £4 billion. How much have they spent? £1.3 billion…
“There are serious amounts of violent crime going on in our constituencies, whether it be drug related or whatever. We're seeing a massive rise in anti-social behaviour as well.
“The public know it, they can feel it. The truth is, with all the cuts that have taken place through austerity, we've lost so many of the services that people previously could depend on.
“A lot of young people, who would have perhaps been dealt with by local services, maybe by youth clubs, and so on, would have been actually helped through a difficult stage of their life. They would not have turned to crime.”
On prisoners being released early, Western said: “The real fear is that some of those perpetrators of domestic violence or sexual assault, they will be coming back out of prison early and that's so unfair and wrong for the victims of those crimes.”
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