The Independent's Voices section has gathered reader reactions to Andy Burnham's early prisoner release scheme, which has been revised so that rapists and serious child sex offenders, including those convicted of grooming, are now excluded from qualifying. The prime minister acknowledged the "anxiety and distress" caused by the scheme and said he had wanted to go further, but warned that doing so could push the prison system to collapse. Readers remain largely unconvinced the changes are sufficient, reflecting a wider debate over whether prison overcrowding justifies early releases or whether the underlying causes, chiefly years of underinvestment, should be addressed instead.

A reader poll found 40 per cent would only support the scheme if more serious offences were excluded, 33 per cent wanted it scrapped entirely, and just 25 per cent backed it as it stands, citing overcrowding as leaving ministers with few alternatives. Comments called for the exclusion list to be widened to cover domestic abusers and the teenage killers of PC Andrew Harper, while others blamed successive governments, particularly the previous Conservative administration, for failing to build promised prison places or invest in the probation service. The row over indefinite IPP sentences, which Burnham has also asked to be reviewed, added further anger from readers who feel some prisoners have been let down for decades.