Over 1,000 prisoners to be freed WITHOUT tags as Jenrick warns 'don't put these people on our streets'

From the Newshound archive · first published 21 September 2026 · last updated 23 September 2026.

More than 1,000 of the 1,350 prisoners earmarked for Labour's first wave of early releases on October 1 will walk free without ankle tracking tags, because the Probation Service lacks the capacity to fit devices in time. The release quota for the opening two weeks is double the originally intended figure, with jails running at 97% capacity. Reform UK Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick savaged the scheme, saying he would rather see five prisoners crammed into one cell than see them freed early.

Ministers had promised electronic monitoring would be the 'cornerstone' of the scheme — in practice, most offenders will be tagged only after they are already back in the community.

People convicted of domestic abuse are among 2,500 offenders scheduled for release before Christmas, with the National Audit Office warning the ankle tag system is already failing and endangering the public.

Jenrick warned that a Reform government would deport all foreign prisoners and 'never' have released the others early: 'We know that many of them re-offend.'