英国防卫大臣韦斯·斯特里廷、内政大臣沙巴娜·马哈茂德及司法大臣亚历克斯·诺里斯因在热麦克风上就政府囚犯提前释放计划开玩笑而遭到严厉批评。斯特里廷曾说"他想把他们都放出来"[1]，随后在社交媒体上道歉，表示"希望大家能看出这些嘲弄背后没有不良意图" [1]。马哈茂德也发表道歉声明，强调"我认识到这是一个极其严肃的问题，不希望任何人把这一时刻的轻松误解为缺乏严肃意图" [1]。
新《量刑法案》将于9月开始实施，计划释放5000多名囚犯 [2]。在该方案下，严重犯罪者可在服刑期的一半后获得释放，而非三分之二 [2]。该法案对严重犯罪、家庭暴力和恐怖主义犯人无豁免 [1]。
受害者权益倡导者对此方案表达了强烈反对。受害者专员克莱尔·瓦克斯曼已就此事致信首相安迪·伯纳姆和诺里斯 [1]，与家庭暴力专员尼可·雅各布斯联合呼吁政府重新审视该计划 [2]。儿童性暴力幸存者杰德·贝尔格罗夫表示，"我对他们认为我们的痛苦是一个廉价笑话感到愤怒" [1]。已故警官安德鲁·哈珀的母亲指出，可能释放杀害其子的凶手是一种"侮辱" [1]。
面对批评，伯纳姆宣布将与司法大臣共同审查该计划 [2]。伯纳姆表示，"我无法说我能完全改变这项政策，但在我们继续推进之前，我会详细审查它" [2]。前司法大臣戴维·拉米警告称，不实施该计划将导致刑事司法系统崩溃 [2]。
UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood have apologized after making light of the government's controversial early prisoner release policy during a private conversation that was overheard. [1] Justice Secretary Alex Norris was also involved in the incident. [1]
Streeting remarked, "He wants to let them all out," [1] before both ministers issued public apologies. Streeting stated on social media: "I hope everyone can see there was no ill intent behind this ribbing," [1] while Mahmood declared: "I appreciate this is an extremely serious issue and do not want anyone to mistake this moment of levity for a lack of serious intent." [1]
The gaffe has drawn sharp criticism from victims' advocates and survivors. Victim Commissioner Claire Waxman has written to Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Norris expressing concerns. [1] Jed Belgrave, a child sexual abuse survivor, said: "I am furious they think our pain is a cheap joke." [1] The mother of police officer Andrew Harper, who was killed and whose murderer could potentially be freed under the scheme, described the prospect as an "insult." [1]
The early release scheme is set to launch in September and will allow over 5,000 prisoners to be freed, [2] with serious offenders eligible for release after serving half their sentence rather than two-thirds. [2] The policy exempts those convicted of serious crimes, domestic violence, and terrorism offences from accelerated release. [1]
Burnham has announced a review of the scheme, stating: "I can't say that I can change the policy completely, but I will look at it in detail before we go further forward." [2] Victim Commissioner Waxman and domestic violence specialist Nicole Jacobs have jointly called on the government to reconsider the policy. [2]