Writing in the Daily Mail, Conservative leader and Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch condemns Labour's Sentencing Act, which she says allows offenders — including rapists, paedophiles and grooming gang perpetrators — to be released from prison earlier than their court sentences. She argues this is indefensible and pledges that the Conservatives will force a parliamentary vote to block early release for serious sexual offenders, framing the issue as a matter of protecting victims rather than party politics.

Badenoch cites the case of Fiona Goddard, a grooming gang survivor who was reportedly told by the Prison Service that her abusers could be freed early, as evidence of the Act's impact on victims. She notes that a previous amendment by shadow justice minister Kieran Mullan was voted down by Labour and the Liberal Democrats, and challenges Andy Burnham — described as about to become prime minister and as opposing early release for sex offenders — to back the Conservative motion. She attributes the policy to Labour's failure to manage a prison capacity crisis.