The British Government has proposed prison reforms that would allow most prisoners in England and Wales to be released on parole after serving just a third of their sentence, BBC reports.
Most British prisoners are released from prison after serving half their sentences.
But last year, faced with the prospect of prisons becoming overcrowded, the Labour government decided to release offenders serving sentences of more than five years after they had served 40% of their sentences. More than 16,000 prisoners were released between September and December, when the emergency measures were in place, according to the Government.
Speaking in the House of Commons on Thursday, Justice Minister Shabana Mahmood stressed that the reform would not affect those convicted of particularly serious violent crimes. They would still have to serve at least two-thirds of their sentence. The same applies to those convicted of terrorism.
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick called Labour's plans "an easy way out of prison for dangerous criminals". Mahmood countered that Conservative governments, of which Jenrick was a member, had added no more than 500 places to prison capacity during their 14 years in power.
