Britain takes emergency measures to ease prison overcrowding after riots

LONDON – The British government has adopted emergency measures to prevent overcrowding in prisons in northern England, as the country's overstretched prison system must now accommodate hundreds of people accused in connection with recent far-right unrest.

The government announced the move on August 19, citing the need to control the influx of prisoners after Prime Minister Keir Starmer accelerated the sentencing of people involved in the anti-immigrant riots that broke out in July.

The government acknowledged in its statement that “decisive action against violence on our streets” had exacerbated long-standing capacity problems in our prisons.

The government reactivated a program called Operation Early Dawn, last used in May by the Conservative government of former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, which requires police to detain suspects until the necessary cells are available.

On August 16, the number of people arrested as a result of the unrest exceeded 1,000. 575 suspects had been charged by then.

The emergency move underlines that Starmer has limited scope for decisive political action after taking over a government with battered public services and a historically high tax burden.

Prison overcrowding was identified as one of the most pressing problems facing the new Labour government following its landslide election victory in July.

“We have inherited a justice system that is in crisis and facing disruption,” Prisons Minister James Timpson said in a statement. “As a result, we have been forced to make difficult but necessary decisions to keep the system running.”

The unrest was triggered by the fatal knife attacks on three young girls who were attending a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport on July 29.

Fuelled by far-right activists, false information about the attacker's origins spread online, sparking days of anti-immigration riots across the country, targeting mosques, immigration facilities and police. BLOOMBERG