MoJ plans to free up prison spaces set to fail ‘because cells being filled by rioters’

Prison governors' leader urges ministers to consider further measures to cut jail population or build new cells

The UK government's plan to free up prison spaces for at least 18 months with next week's launch of the early release scheme is doomed to fail because cells are being filled by rioters, the prison governors' leader has said.

Tom Wheatley, the president of the Prison Governors' Association, said the justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, will be lucky to get 12 months before we are full again" after charges against hundreds of people for their role in the recent disorder.