Wednesday briefing: What reforms could actually solve the prison capacity crisis?

In today's newsletter: With a sentencing review ordered and the crisis in the criminal justice system deepening, the government is tasked with finding solutions to what seems like an intractable problem

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Good morning. If the answer is prison works", it now seems that the most likely question is: what is a good example of a demonstrable policy failure where successive governments have nonetheless decided to stick with the status quo?

England and Wales lock up more people than any other country in western Europe, with Scotland close behind; thanks largely to longer sentences, the prison population has doubled since 1993. But while crime has dropped considerably over that period, the same effect has been seen in countries that don't lock up nearly so many people - and about 44% of freed prisoners are convicted again within a year.

UK news | Police chiefs have asked the government to make it harder to prosecute officers after a sergeant was acquitted of the murder of Chris Kaba, in a move that drew immediate criticism from campaigners as a grant of effective immunity". It meanwhile emerged that Kaba had shot a man a few days before he was killed and was allegedly a core member of a south London gang.

Middle East | Israel has confirmed the killing of the presumed next leader of Hezbollah in an airstrike on southern Beirut earlier in October. In a statement on Tuesday evening, the Israeli military said strikes in the suburb of Dahiyeh had killed Hashem Safieddine three weeks ago. Hezbollah has not yet commented.

Water | Water companies in England could be banned from making a profit under plans for a complete overhaul of the system. The idea is one of several under consideration by a new commission amid public fury over sewage in rivers and mismanagement.

US elections | Donald Trump has filed an extraordinary complaint against the UK's Labour party, claiming that volunteers joining the Kamala Harris campaign are guilty of blatant foreign interference". Keir Starmer insisted he could maintain a good relationship with Trump despite the claim.

Culture | Abba's Bjorn Ulvaeus, actor Julianne Moore and Radiohead singer Thom Yorke are among 10,500 signatories of a statement from the creative industries warning artificial intelligence companies that unlicensed use of their work is a major, unjust threat" to artists' livelihoods.