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Top Tory Richard Holden has accidentally exposed his own party’s shocking record on increasing prison capacity, revealing that the Conservatives increased jail spaces by just 455 places in fourteen years.
In what appears to have been an attempt to dig up information on Labour’s record, the shadow paymaster general used a written parliamentary question to ask how many new prison places were built under the previous Labour administration, between May 1997 and May 2010, and the previous Tory administration, between May 2010 and July 2024.
Responding, justice minister Sir Nicholas Dakin revealed that the Tories increased the capacity of the prison estate by just 455 spaces in their fourteen years in power – fewer spaces than the current government has created in its seven months in office.
The previous Labour government boosted space by 27,830 new prison places, the data shows.
A further written question asked by Mr Holden also revealed that between 2010 and 2024, the Tories closed the doors of more than 7,500 prison cells.
However, when he pressed for further information from the House of Commons library, separate data showed that between 1997 and 2010 – under the previous Labour government – the number of prisoners in double bunked cells had increased by more than 9,000. And between 1999 and 2010, those placed in overcrowded accommodation increased by around 7,000.
Mr Holden accused Labour ministers of “avoiding answering clear and sensible questions either because they don’t know or are embarrassed of the truth”.
But Labour suggested the former Tory chairman had “hoped that his ‘gotcha’ question would provide him with data to embarrass the Labour government”.
A party spokesperson said: “It’s good to see Richard Holden play his part in exposing the Conservatives’ disastrous record on prisons. His party ran our prisons red-hot and took them to the brink of collapse.
“Labour is taking the difficult steps to repair the damage left by successive Conservative governments. We will continue to reveal the dreadful inheritance this government was left. Double-agent Holden’s support in that task is much appreciated.”
The MP for Basildon and Billericay had asked how many new prison places were built, but Sir Nicholas’ response only provided data on the total capacity of prisons, explaining that “available records do not provide a complete breakdown”.
Mr Holden also asked how many existing cells had additional beds installed to increase capacity, but Sir Nicholas said “data on the number of cells which had additional beds installed is not held by the Ministry of Justice for the period requested”.
It comes as an official review found that successive governments’ over-reliance on prison sentences and desire to seem “tough on crime” have driven the justice system in England and Wales to the brink of collapse.
A report by the Independent Sentencing Review said longer jail terms have been a knee jerk policy response to show government action, leading to an overwhelmed and ineffective system, despite an overall decline in crime since the mid-1990s.
The “unstrategic manner” of increasing sentences over decades has also meant ways to cut crime and reduce reoffending have been overlooked as other aims of sentencing criminals, it said.
The review, chaired by former lord chancellor David Gauke, published findings on Tuesday on what pushed the justice system to the brink of collapse, ahead of recommendations and proposals for reform to be announced in spring this year.
The analysis also found England and Wales has one of the highest prison population rates in western Europe.
It comes after thousands of inmates were freed early in a bid to cut jail overcrowding last year, by temporarily reducing the proportion of sentences which some prisoners must serve behind bars in England and Wales, from 50 per cent to 40 per cent.
In response to the figures, Mr Holden took aim at Labour’s response to his questions. He told The Independent: “Labour ministers embarrassingly avoiding answering clear and sensible questions either because they don’t know or are embarrassed of the truth.
“The contempt that Sir Keir Starmer’s government have for elected representatives is clear. I will be raising this with both Parliamentary and Ministerial standards bodies as it’s clear Labour ministers have contempt for the Nolan principles.
“Rather than trying to improve the system, the fact that instead Labour ministers and special advisers think it’s a good use of public money to spend time failing to answer questions then brief the media about how clever they are is and sad indictment of this failing Labour government under Sir Keir Starmer and shows how unfit they are to hold office.”
