Andy Burnham says he's "increasingly confident" that the early release of PC Andrew Harper's killers can be stopped by plans to free up prison spaces
It comes after Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said the government would set out a plan next month for how Harper's killers could be kept in prison for longer
Rayner said Burnham had asked Justice Secretary Alex Norris to come to Parliament in September with a plan
Under a policy due to begin in October, more prisoners in England and Wales will be released earlier in their sentences to tackle prison overcrowding
That is due to include Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, who were sentenced to 13 years for manslaughter in 2020 for the killing of PC Harper
Prime Minister Andy Burnham says he is "increasingly confident" that work to increase space in the prison system "will allow us to reduce the number of people released early".
He adds: "And, in the case of the most serious offenders like those convicted of the killing of PC [Andrew] Harper, prevent their early release altogether."
After PC Andrew Harper's death, his widow Lissie led the campaign to introduce "Harper's Law".
Passed by Parliament, the law gives mandatory life sentences to the killers of emergency services workers. It also doubles the maximum penalty from 12 months to two years for those who assault police or other emergency workers.
Although PC Harper was killed in 2019, the new rules were introduced in 2022 and did not apply retrospectively to the sentencing of his killers.
That's one of the concerns raised by those campaigning against their early release.
Image source, Getty ImagesConservative leader Kemi Badenoch says Andy Burnham "needs to act" to stop the early release of PC Andrew Harper's killers.
Writing on X, she says: "Two weeks ago I told Burnham to change course on early release. A week ago he exempted rapists and paedophiles.
"Today he's 'looking at' stopping PC Harper's killers being released.
Badenoch adds: "The victims have suffered enough. The delays & excuses are making it worse. The PM needs to act."
Image source, PA MediaAlbert Bowers (left) and Jessie Cole (centre), seen leaving court in 2019, are eligible to be freed under the early release scheme
As our earlier post mentions, Andy Burnham has asked Justice Secretary Alex Norris to come up with a plan to exclude PC Andrew Harper's killers from an early release scheme designed to ease prison overcrowding.
PC Harper, 28, died in 2019 when he was dragged behind the getaway car of three teenagers who had fled the scene of a quad bike theft in Berkshire.
Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers were sentenced to 13 years for manslaughter in 2020.
Under changes to the Sentencing Act made this year, Cole and Bowers will become eligible for release from custody next January after serving half of their sentences.
They are in a category of prisoners - those who have committed certain serious violent or sexual crimes - who until now would have had to serve at least two-thirds of their sentence in jail.
One of PC Andrew Harper's colleagues she is "optimistic" the government will prevent his killers from being released.
Aileen O’Connor - chairwoman of the Thames Valley Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers - organised a petition against the killers’ early release.
It now has more than 900,000 signatures, which O’Connor says shows how the British public "have got behind this campaign".
Fighting off tears, she tells BBC Radio 4’s Today programme of the vow she made to "do something" on behalf of officers across her force and across the UK.
O'Connor says she has a "glimmer of hope and encouragement" following the latest developments, and believes Prime Minister Andy Burnham will "make the right choices".
Image source, PA MediaAn officer at the scene of PC Harper's death in August 2019
The mother of PC Andrew Harper, Debbie Adlam, tells BBC Breakfast of the anguish caused by "reading conflicting reports" about whether or not her son’s killers can be excluded from the early release scheme.
"I’m just getting more and more angry, I'm just in this turmoil," she says.
Adlam says that she received a phone call from No 10 last night, and was told that the prime minister now "has more hope now of finding a resolution to this to try and keep them in prison".
"For me, it’s hope but I can't afford to be too hopeful, because we’ve been there before," she says.
Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers "weren’t given extreme sentences", she says, adding that she’s "not asking for a special case for my son".
"I'm only asking for them to do what they were given. I'm not asking for anything more than they were sentenced."
Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent
Housing Secretary Angela Rayner says the government is looking at freeing up more prison spaces to prevent violent offenders being released early.
Angela Rayner says ministers could explore quicker deportation of foreign prisoners, sentences given to female offenders and indefinite sentences handed out in previous decades.
She says the prime minister "doesn’t accept that we allow the most dangerous offenders out early on release" and said the "trauma" faced by the family of PC Andrew Harper and others was "unacceptable".
Rayner says the government also wants "stronger restrictions" on people who leave prison through the early release scheme and that Labour would build more prisons to prevent overcrowding in the future.
She says Andy Burnham had asked the justice secretary Alex Norris to come to Parliament in September with a plan to keep the most serious offenders in prison.
