Prison system was days from collapse three times under Sunak, review finds

Emergency measures bailed out jails at last minute as No 10 refused to cut prisoner numbers until cliff edge' reached, former watchdog reports

The criminal justice system was within days of collapse on three occasions before being bailed out by last-minute emergency measures", an independent review by a former prisons watchdog has found.

Dame Anne Owers said the prison system, under pressure from overcrowding, was in crisis" between autumn 2023 and the summer of 2024, but No 10 under Rishi Sunak refused to cut the numbers in jail until the next predictable cliff edge".