Starmer blasts ‘unforgivable’ prison overcrowding as Rory Stewart brands jail crisis ‘total disgrace’ – live

Sir Keir Starmer said the prisons overcrowding crisis was “unforgivable” and showed “gross irresponsibility” from the previous Conservative government.

The justice secretary is set to announce plans to tackle prison overcrowding amid fears jails will run out of space within weeks.

Shabana Mahmood will set out emergency measures that could include reducing the time before some prisoners are automatically released.

But the move faced fierce backlash with the aunt of Zara Aleena branding the early release a “dangerous gamble with public safety”.

Former prisons minister Rory Stewart has said the crisis in prisons is “a total disgrace” and the way to tackle overcrowded jails is “to put fewer people in prison for less time”.

It comes as Nigel Farage is set to return to GB News next week after being elected as an MP on his eighth attempt, the channel has confirmed.

Ofcom repeatedly found that the broadcaster breached rules on impartiality, which allow politicians to present current affairs programmes but not act as newsreaders.

George Osborne has warned the Conservative Party to move towards the centre ground rather than chase Reform voters to regain power.

The former chancellor claimed targeting Nigel Farage’s supporters would result in the Tories losing more moderate backers.

Mr Osborne told his Political Currency podcast: “It is a very hard tactical choice, for the new leader, which is the obvious thing to do if you look at the maths is to say ‘let’s go and get the 14 or 15 per cent who voted Reform, add it to the 24 per cent who voted Conservative and we’re ahead of Labour, it is easy, job done’ without noticing really what I think is the central challenge which is the Conservative Party over a number of years vacated