Tories pledge to slash overseas aid budget to fund 50,000 new prison places and end early release

From the Newshound archive · first published 2 October 2026 · last updated 3 October 2026.

Kemi Badenoch has approved a programme to create 50,000 new prison places, growing the estate by more than 50 per cent, with the cost met by reducing the overseas aid budget. The Conservatives argue the proposals would bring early release to an end, a scheme under which thousands of offenders have walked free before serving their full sentences. The party says most of the new capacity would be delivered within a single Parliament, with the entire expansion finished within seven years.

The Tories are billing it as the largest growth in the prison estate since Queen Victoria's reign.

The plan ties foreign aid reductions directly to domestic law and order, pitching squarely at voters angered by what they see as lenient sentencing.

Early release has become a focal point for public frustration, with Labour repeatedly defending the policy as reoffending rates continue to climb.