A former RAF base used to house asylum seekers has been mooted as a site for a ‘meg-jail’.
Questions have been raised about the future of RAF Wethersfield as MPs prepare to sign off emergency plans to release thousands of criminals early from overcrowded prisons.
The site near Braintree in Essex is currently accommodating around 500 asylum seekers, as part of Tory efforts to bring hotel costs down.
But Labour is pledging to clear the backlog and empty the facilities – although it is not clear what ministers will do if numbers remain high.
Earlier this week it was announced that the Bibby Stockholm barge will stop housing would-be migrants from January.
Questions have been raised about the future of RAF Wethersfield (pictured) as MPs prepare to sign off emergency plans to release thousands of criminals early from overcrowded prisons
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood claimed last week that the Government has ‘no option’ but to release 5,500 prisoners early, with jails projected to be overflowing by September
The Ministry of Justice previously floated converting RAF Wethersfield into a mega-jail for at least 1,700 offenders to help tackle overcrowding.
A letter to the local parish council in March confirmed the government was still considering the site as part of a ‘long-term pipeline’ for new prisons, according to the Telegraph.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood claimed last week that the Government has ‘no option’ but to release 5,500 prisoners early, with jails projected to be overflowing by September.
The temporary measures, which will see a reduction in the proportion of their sentence many prisoners must serve in jail from 50 per cent to 40 per cent, will be revised in 18 months’ time, Ms Mahmood said.
The Government also announced it will conduct a review into the prison capacity crisis to understand why ‘necessary decisions’ weren’t made at ‘critical moments’.
The motion to approve the Criminal Justice Act 2003, requisite minimum custodial periods order 2024, will be debated by MPs today.
The Home Office announced earlier this week that the contract for the Bibby Stockholm, moored in Dorset, will not be renewed past January as demand for such accommodation will be reduced by moves to clear the asylum backlog.
The Bibby Stockholm barge will stop being used to house asylum seekers as Labour reverses a swathe of the Tories’ tough measures
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has been reversing a slew of tough Tory policies
The year to date has been the busiest for crossings so far, with 14,759 migrants arriving between January 1 and July 16 – the most recent date for which figures are available. This compares to 14,622 in 2022, the second busiest year
The government said extending the contract would have cost over £20million next year.
It came after Yvette Cooper announced an effective amnesty on tens of thousands of Channel migrants, who had previously been blocked from seeking asylum.
She insisted that the policy was not working as the migrants were merely being kept in limbo at taxpayer expense.
The Rwanda scheme has also been axed despite signs it was already having a deterrent effect, with Ms Cooper saying it had cost £700million and only four Channel arrivals had voluntarily gone to the African state.
