Starmer ‘angry and frustrated’ at ‘intolerable’ mistaken release of prisoners

As colossal messes go, the justice system is one Labour want to clean uppublished at 19:18 GMT 6 November

19:18 GMT 6 November

Chris Mason
Political editor

Out of complexity, simplicity. The justice system in England and Wales is repeatedly failing in that most basic of its tasks – who should be in prison
and who shouldn’t.

Fanciful escapes from jail are no longer de rigueur it seems,
when so many are let out the front gate by accident.

David Lammy’s difficult
inheritance as justice secretary – he’s done the job for two months –
unfortunately garnished, his critics say, by his own handling of it.

But it is
also true that of all the things Labour took on when they won last year, as
colossal messes go, the justice system was at or near the top. Sufficiently so
it probably contributed to Rishi Sunak’s decision to call the general election
months early, so spectacularly was the system creaking.

It is Labour’s problem
now, though.

And it is at its sharpest politically when transparent recurring
failure in the justice system overlaps with transparent recurring failure in
the immigration system – whether that is small boats, or legal migration.

In
other words, exactly what’s happened in the last week or so.

Stark, instantly
understood case studies in state failure, in an era where there is a sticky
vibe that says – fairly or otherwise — nothing works any more.