Kemi Badenoch has called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to bring forward emergency legislation to prevent the early release of hundreds of prisoners, including violent and sexual offenders, scheduled for September.

The Conservative leader said she would back emergency legislation to prevent rapists and killers serving much-reduced sentences (The Telegraph). She was expected to make her call at a press conference with victims on Tuesday.

Badenoch specifically called on Burnham to revoke legislation coming into effect on 2 September and to recall Parliament if necessary to exempt the worst violent and sexual offenders from early release (BBC News). She stated that dangerous offenders would begin to be released on Tuesday 1 September, the day after MPs return from summer recess.

'Without emergency legislation, dangerous violent and sexual offenders will be released at the start of September,' Badenoch said (AOL). At her expected press conference, she added: 'It's all well and good cutting bills and bus fares, but that pales into insignificance when paedophiles and rapists are about to be let out on our streets' (BBC News).

The early release scheme would have seen about 700 prisoners freed in the first phase in September. Under the scheme, designed to ease overcrowding, thousands of prisoners in England and Wales could have been freed after serving a third of their sentence (BBC News). Eligibility for early release under the Sentencing Act is based on the length of sentence rather than the type of offence (BBC News).

Burnham announced he was pausing the scheme last week following a backlash from survivors and victims. The Conservatives claim the government's review of the early release scheme will not stop offenders being released (BBC News).

Conservative shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy said victims should not have to live in fear all summer waiting for a review and called on Labour to stop the mass release of dangerous criminals (BBC News).

A Labour Party spokesperson responded by pointing to the Opposition's record. 'The Conservatives have some nerve. During their 14 years…' the spokesperson said, adding: 'It's this government that is fixing the Tories' mess' (BBC News).

Early release from prison was first used by the Conservative government in 2023 due to overcrowding. By June 2024, before Labour came to power, 10,000 prisoners had been released early (BBC News; UK Parliament).

The scheme and calls for emergency legislation have been discussed in parliamentary debates on 21 January, 3 February, 7 July, and 13 July 2026, according to Hansard records (House of Commons Hansard, 13 July 2026; House of Commons Hansard, 7 July 2026; House of Commons Hansard, 3 February 2026; House of Commons Hansard, 21 January 2026).

During the 7 July debate, an MP stated that the government had 'folded' on the early release scheme but could not tell the plan, and asked whether emergency legislation would be brought forward (House of Commons Hansard, 7 July 2026). The 13 July debate on the Immigration and Asylum Bill included a reference to the Early Release Act 2020 having been passed through Parliament in approximately 15 days (House of Commons Hansard, 13 July 2026).

The broader context here is the political volatility of prison policy as a devolved and reserved intersection. The early release scheme applies to England and Wales, where sentencing and prisons are not devolved. But the political pressure on Burnham is acute precisely because the eligibility criteria, length-based rather than offence-based, cut across public reassurance on violent and sexual crime. The precedent of the Early Release Act 2020, expedited through Parliament in roughly 15 days, will invite scrutiny of whether emergency legislation could be passed before 1 September, were the government to shift from pause to legislative reversal.

Looking at what this means for the Commons arithmetic, Badenoch's offer to back emergency legislation puts the onus on the government to either accept the terms or justify a distinction between its pause and full revocation. The government's review, announced last week, operates on a timeline the Conservatives are framing as insufficient given the September release date. Whether the government treats the pause as a prelude to legislative change or as a holding position remains the operative question as Parliament approaches recess return.