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There's one prisoner who won't be released early. Step forward, the hapless justice secretary
The Guardian
|November 07, 2025
It was a message of defiance. The system may be in crisis but there was leadership at the very top. There was one prisoner who was most definitely not getting an accidental early release. And that was the justice secretary himself.
Following his disastrous showing - he had the shadow defence secretary, James Cartlidge, to thank for it not being far worse - while standing in for Keir Starmer at prime minister's questions, David Lammy has been kept banged up on 15-minute observation watch by civil servants and advisers. Only allowed out of his office under electronic tag for toilet breaks.
We had been promised that Lammy would be giving a short interview to broadcasters some time yesterday morning. Both to reassure us that he was still alive and possibly to update us on the two prisoners who had gone awol. And not forgetting any others who had been mistakenly released in the past 24 hours. It’s hard to keep an up-to-date checklist these days.
This story is from the November 07, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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