Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced that Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences will be abolished by the end of this parliament, marking a major victory for campaigners including The Independent, which has spent over two years pushing for the sentences to be reviewed. Burnham said he had "long-standing concerns" about the open-ended jail terms and took a "common sense" approach, arguing the public would prefer those who have served their time to be released before others who committed more serious crimes but are being freed early under separate government reforms.

IPP sentences were introduced under New Labour and outlawed in 2012, but not retrospectively, leaving thousands of prisoners without a fixed release date, some having served up to 22 times their original tariff. Campaigners, including Shirley Debono of IPP Committee in Action, whose son has served nearly 14 years for a phone theft, welcomed the news as "incredible" after 12 years of campaigning, while UNGRIPP called it an essential first step but urged swift implementation with proper mental health support. The reform comes too late for 96 IPP prisoners who took their own lives, including Tommy Nicol, who died in 2015 aged 37.