THOUSANDS OF PRISONERS are set to be released early in a bid to prevent the “collapse” of the prison system, the UK’s Justice Minister Shabana Mahmood announced today. The order will come into effect in September.

Prisons in the UK have been operating at 99% capacity since 2023, with only 700 places left in male institutions. England and Wales have the highest prisoner population per capita in Western Europe.

The total number of prisoners reached over 87,505 today, leaving just 1,451 spaces available.

Officials say that the prison needs a buffer of around 1,425 cell spaces in men’s prisons at all time to deal with sudden influxes of inmates.

The chief inspector of prisons, Charlie Taylor, said this week that urgent action was required, as prisons were at “breaking point”.

The intiative will not apply to violent offernders serving more than four years, sex offenders, those in prison for domestic abuse offences, as well as those on life sentences.

Mahmood, appointed to his position last week after Labour’s landslide victory in the UK general election, said that there could be “van-loads of dangerous people circling the country with nowhere to go”.

“With officers unable to act, criminals could do whatever they want, without consequence. We could see looters running amok, smashing in windows, robbing shops and setting neighbourhoods alight,” she said in a speech at a prison.

“In short, if we fail to act now, we face the collapse of the criminal justice system. And a total breakdown of law and order.”

Under the plans, prisoners who are eligible for automatic release after serving half their sentence will be freed earlier than the normal. It also involves a temporary reduction of how much of a sentence a prisoner must serve behind bars, from 50% down to 40%.

Six new prisons to create an extra 20,000 places are being built.

The Prison Governors’ Association (PGA) said it welcomed the speed of the new measures while demanding a “full review” and that “the public must never be placed in this position again”.