Suella Braverman demands Tory leadership contenders are 'honest' about failures on issues such as prisons and immigration - as James Cleverly emerges as early frontrunner among 'dirty half-dozen' running to replace Rishi Sunak
Suella Braverman has against lashed out at her own party over its failures during 14 years in government, saying the next Tory leader must take responsibility for what was 'shamefully left undone'.
The rightwing former home secretary criticised the Conservatives for failing to build enough prisons, as Labour announced thousands of prisoners are to be released early to avert the 'collapse' of the system.
In a series of tweets Ms Braverman, who is expected to run to succeed Rishi Sunak, accused Labour of 'picking up Tory ideas and putting the public at risk'.
In what appeared to be an attempt to put distance between herself and the former Sunak administration she said she opposed early release 'inside and outside government'.
She added: 'Everyone and his mother should run to be leader.
'But we've all got to start taking responsibility for what we did. And for the things we shamefully left undone. Such as not building enough prisons.'
It came as a new poll suggested she is far from the popular choice to lead the Tories.
Her successor as home secretary, James Cleverly, was the early frontrunner in a 'dirty half-dozen' expected to announce leadership bids. In a poll by YouGov for the Times he was ahead of Ms Braverman, Kemi Badenoch and Priti Patel with all voters and with Tory voters specifically.
The rightwing former home secretary criticised the Conservatives for failing to build enough prisons, as Labour announced thousands of prisoners are to be released early to avert the 'collapse' of the system.
In a series of tweets Ms Braverman, who is expected to run to succeed Rishi Sunak , accused Labour of 'picking up Tory ideas and putting the public at risk'.
Those polled said they did not know enough about two other expected candidates, Tom Tugendhat and Victoria Atkins, to make a decision.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood warned today that without immediate action to address overcrowding, prisons would run out of space within weeks - leading to 'a total breakdown of law and order'.
In a speech at HMP Five Wells, in Northamptonshire, she said prisons were 'on the point of collapse', with barely 700 places left in the adult male estate and jails operating at 99 per cent capacity since the start of 2023.
Echoing language used about supporters of appeasement in the 1930s, Ms Mahmood laid the blame for the prisons crisis with the previous government.
She said: 'Those responsible - Sunak and his gang in Number 10 - should go down in history as the guilty men. The guilty men who put their political careers ahead of the safety and security of our country.
A graph showing the maximum capacity of prisoners in comparison to the prison population
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood unveiled a series of measures designed to ease overcrowding in jails and avert 'unchecked criminality on our streets'
'It was the most disgraceful dereliction of duty I have ever known.'
If prisons ran out of cell space, she warned, the country faced the prospect of "van-loads of dangerous people circling the country with nowhere to go".
Ms Mahmood said: "The police would have to use their cells as a prison overflow, keeping officers off the streets. Soon, the courts would grind to a halt, unable to hold trials.
"With officers unable to act, criminals could do whatever they want, without consequence. We could see looters running amok, smashing in windows, robbing shops and setting neighbourhoods alight.
"In short, if we fail to act now, we face the collapse of the criminal justice system. And a total breakdown of law and order."
The plans set out by Ms Mahmood would see a temporary reduction in the proportion of their sentence many prisoners must serve in jail from 50% to 40%.
This would not apply to violent offenders serving more than four years, sex offenders or those in prison for crimes connected to domestic abuse. Dangerous offenders serving extended or life sentences would also be exempted from the scheme.
Most prisoners currently serve 50 per cent of their sentence in jail, with the remaining 50 per cent being served on licence and under threat of being returned to prison if they break their parole conditions.
Former Conservative justice secretary Alex Chalk reportedly pressed former prime minister Rishi Sunak for a reduction to 40 per cent before the election, but was overruled by the then-PM.
