Conservative Party: Labour's early release legacy

Shadow Justice Secretary Dominic Grieve responds to official figures on Labour's controversial early release scheme.

"At this election, there is a clear choice", he said.

"Five more years of a Labour government which released 80,000 prisoners early; the Liberal Democrats, who would let up to 60,000 offenders walk free; or change under a Conservative Government that will reform our failing prison system to bring down re-offending and cut crime."

The final statistics from the Ministry of Justice show that:

• 81,578 offenders were released early under the scheme in total.16,334 of these offenders were serving sentences for violence against the person
• 2,108 were serving sentences for robbery and 7,504 for burglary
• 1,234 offenders were reported for alleged re-offending while on early release
• 1,624 alleged offences were committed by offenders on early release
• 125 offenders recalled for alleged re-offending or breaching the terms of their early release are still at large.