Kemi Badenoch, Conservative leader, called for emergency legislation to halt the early release scheme, after which Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced a pause. The scheme, first introduced by Conservatives in 2023 and expanded under Labour, had released 10,000 prisoners by June 2024 with plans for 6,000 more from September under the Sentencing Act. All measures stem from severe prison overcrowding with fewer than 100 spare places in the adult male estate upon the government's arrival in July 2024.