We’ll pay for more jail places by scrapping ID cards, say Tories
According to the Daily Mail:
Labour’s early release scheme for prisoners would be axed by the next Tory government, shadow home secretary David Davis will say today.
He pledged to build more than 1,000 prison places with cash saved from scrapping the Government’s £19 billion ID card plans.
About 6,000 prisoners have so far been released before the end of their sentences to ease prison overcrowding, but the Conservatives say the scheme puts lives at risk, leaves crimes unpunished and interrupts rehabilitation.
The party believes it can save £255.4 million in the first three years of ditching the ID cards plan, with the first priority for these savings being the provision of extra prison places. It plans to use £162.6 million to build and support another 1,200 prison places.
The Tories say they have based their costings on the Government’s own figures but add that independent estimates show “far higher” savings can be made by scrapping ID cards.
