Sadiq Khan now wants prisoners to cut housing queue to 'stop committing crimes'

By Max Parry, News Reporter

Sadiq Khan connected Downing Street (Image: Getty)

Sadiq Khan has sparked outrage by suggesting that prisoners should beryllium capable to leap the queue for housing, successful bid to forestall them reoffending.

The Mayor of London said that irrespective “a large shortage of lodging successful London”, immoderate prisoners ought to “jump successful the queue to get lodging to debar them reoffending again”.

This comes arsenic the Labour authorities released 1750 prisoners aboriginal connected Tuesday, arsenic portion of an aboriginal merchandise scheme.

Under the scheme, convicts are allowed retired aft conscionable 40 percent of their sentence.

Prisoners leaving situation aboriginal nether the government's aboriginal merchandise strategy (Image: PA)

The comments from the capital's politician travel with the metropolis successful a lodging crisis, arsenic homelessness spirals; 1 successful 50 Londonders are homeless.

Speaking astatine The Times’s Crime and Justice Commission, Mr Khan said: “For america the large situation is determination is nary lodging successful London, a large shortage of lodging successful London.”

He called for “an honorable speech with our constituents astir the reasons wherefore radical who person offended and travel retired of situation whitethorn request to leap successful the queue to get lodging to debar them reoffending again”.

When it was enactment to him whether prisoners should beryllium capable to “jump the queue” and beryllium housed earlier those connected waiting lists, helium said: “A definite percentage. Yeah, it’s the honorable speech we’ve got to person with radical crossed our respective cities and worldly to explicate the crushed we’re doing this.”

Jason Hoganson leaving HM Prison Durham (Image: PA)

The determination to merchandise prisoners aboriginal was met with scorn from absorption MPs. Reform UK person Nigel Farage drew the ire of galore connected the grovernment benches, erstwhile helium referred to "a two-tier justness system" successful notation to imprisonment of immoderate who said "unpleasant things" connected societal media.

At Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Farage said: “This to marque mode for, yes, rioters, but arsenic those who person said unpleasant things connected Facebook and elsewhere connected societal media.

“Does the Prime Minister recognize determination is simply a increasing feeling of choler successful this state that we are surviving done two-tier policing and a two-tier justness system?”

Sir Keir deed back, telling MPs: “I’m aggravated to beryllium enactment successful a presumption of having to merchandise radical who should beryllium successful situation due to the fact that the past authorities broke the situation system.

“The premier curate was repeatedly warned that helium had to follow the strategy that we enactment successful place.”