Justice Minister Jake Richards faced questions on Labour's early prison release policy
Justice Minister Jake Richards has sparked fury after suggesting it should be viewed as a success that grooming gang perpetrators face jail time “at all”.
Mr Richards made the somewhat surprising claim after being pressed on the issue of prisoners being released early by Tory MP Katie Lam.
Mr Richards issued his response while promoting Labour’s prison building programme, which he credited as the biggest “since the Victorian era”.
Beginning her question, Ms Lam said: “On June 20, grooming gang perpetrators were jailed for offences in West Yorkshire, which included the rape and abuse of three girls. The youngest was aged just 12.
“Abbas Khalji was sentenced to just seven years for rape. Mohammad Ishtiaq Hussain, just eight. All too soon, these vile men will be back on the streets of the very communities that they terrorised.
“The idea that the Government could cut their sentences to be even shorter is terrifying.
“Can the minister please assure this House that this is not about the past, this is about the present and the future, and everybody involved in grooming and rape gang offences will, at the very least, serve the entirety of their already two short sentences."
Mr Richards replied: "Well, once again, I'm very happy to meet with her or, indeed, the appropriate Member of Parliament to look into the details of that case.
“We need to make sure that we have enough prison places to ensure that those who commit these serious offences serve time at all."
The Justice Minister added: "And that is what the Sentencing Act complemented with the biggest prison-building programme since the Victorian era."
His response drew a furious reaction from Ms Lam, who took to X afterwards.
“The minister seemed to say that we should be grateful that these people are serving prison sentences at all,” she wrote.
Dr Kieran Mullan, Tory MP for Bexhill and Battle, also posed a question about the issue to Mr Richards.
“Those who perpetrate heinous crimes must face the full force of the law,” the Justice Minister responded.
“Offenders who are released will face strict licence conditions, closer probation supervision for the most dangerous offenders, exclusion zones, tagging, 24/7 tracking and curfews.
“This is the biggest expansion of tagging in history, ensuring that dangerous offenders are monitored and the public is protected.
“If risk in the community becomes unmanageable, those offenders can be recalled to prison,” Mr Richards said.
It comes as Justice Secretary David Lammy will implement legal changes to allow criminals guilty of serious offences to be released early for the first time.
Prisoners will be evaluated first on their behaviour and deemed ineligible for release if they have committed any serious rule breaches behind bars.
Criminals convicted of burglary, theft, assault and repeated shoplifting could be freed after serving only a third of their sentence, rather than the current 40 per cent benchmark.
In September, the first set of 700 prisoners will be released.
A similar number of criminals will be released each of the next nine months as part of a staggered release plan.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has said the move is necessary to combat overcrowding in prisons.
Former Labour Safeguarding Minister Jess Philips was among parliamentarians who called on those guilty of serious sexual crimes against children not to be eligible for early release.