The prison population of England and Wales has hit a record high after rising by nearly 1,000 in four weeks.
Labour has also activated Operation Early Dawn in parts of England and Wales where defendants will be summoned to a magistrates court only when a space in prison is available.
The sharp increase is believed to have been driven by the number of jail sentences handed to those who took part in recent riots.
A total of 88,350 people were in prison as of 30 August, Ministry of Justice figures show. This is up 116 from 88,234 a week ago and an increase of 988 from 87,362 on 2 August.
It is the highest end-of-week figure since weekly population data was first published in 2011, according to analysis by the PA news agency. It also surpasses the highest total recorded, which was 88,336 at the end of February 2024, based on separate figures for the end-of-month population size.
The riots, fuelled by the far right after the stabbing of three young girls in Southport, came after the Labour government announced emergency measures to ease overcrowding in its first week in power.
Shabana Mahmood, the lord chancellor, set out legislation last month to reduce the amount of time inmates must spend in jail before they are automatically released, lowering it from 50% of their sentence to 40%, in an attempt to manage overcrowding.
She warned that jails becoming too full could spark a breakdown in law and order on the streets within days. Police cells would be filled with arrested suspects and convicted prisoners, she claimed, a situation that could be exploited by looters and criminals.
Labour has been keen to blame Conservative-led governments over the last 14 years for locking up increasing numbers of criminals while failing to build more prisons.
The prison population in England and Wales has been rising for much of the past three years, having dropped as low as 77,727 in April 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Before the pandemic, the figure had been above 80,000 since December 2006.
In the aftermath of the summer 2011 riots, the number climbed as high as 88,179 on 2 December 2011, before falling back in subsequent months.
This week Keir Starmer said more prisons would be built to manage overcrowding once the government got its “hands on the planning laws
Speaking to reporters in Berlin, the prime minister said the lack of prisons being built was one of the reasons for the capacity crisis.
One of Labour’s main pledges during the general election campaign was to unblock the planning system to allow developers to build on the “grey belt”.
Starmer said: “We’ve got to change the planning regulation so we can build the prisons we need, because they are taking far too long, it’s far too slow, and that’s among the reasons we’re in the position we are.
“And, as you’d expect from an ex-chief prosecutor, people do need to go to prison, and they need to know that the law is effective.”
