Rishi Sunak ‘risked breaching legal responsibilities over prison crisis’

Exclusive: leaked letters said without urgent action the system in England and Wales would reach critical failure'

Rishi Sunak was warned by senior civil servants a week before he called the election that he was at risk of breaching his legal responsibilities if he failed to take action over the prison overcrowding crisis, a leaked document reveals.

The advice, sent to the former prime minister on 15 May, said that failing to make an urgent decision on prison capacity would mean the criminal justice system in England and Wales reaching the point of critical failure".