One of the first acts of the Ministry of Justice is to be to release two thousand criminals back into the community in order to relieve prison overcrowding.

You really couldn't make it up - a Ministry of Justice that releases convicted criminals before they've even served their sentences?! Yes, that is going to stop them just going out and committing more crimes, is it! Lord Falconer claimed that "[r]elease on licence is not the same as executive release. Releasing people on licence means their sentence continues." But how does their sentence continue iof they have been released from prison? They were sentenced to however long in prison, not some time in prison then some time at home.

This government came to power pledging to be "tough on crime, tough on the causes on crime". Yet instead they have just been soft on criminals. Although offenders convicted of violent or sex crimes would not qualify for this early release, burglars, fraudsters and drug dealers will get out. Not really much better. Doing this is quite simply making a mockery of our judicial system and of all criminal laws passed.

It's quite simple - if prisons are getting overcrowded then [shock, horror!] build new ones! As the population expands, so will the number of criminals. It may stay at same level of society, or even be at a lower level, but the actual physical number of prisoners will rise as the population size does. It's very simple maths - so simple that even I can do it.

If the government isn't going to bother building new prisons, then it does simply make a mockery of our entire system of justice. You might as well just throw open the prison gates.

Sources: BBC, The Times, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Independent