Emergency measures bailed out jails at last minute as No 10 refused to cut prisoner numbers until ‘cliff edge’ reached, former watchdog reports

Conservatives dismiss claims of ‘permacrisis’ under Sunak as ‘smear by a Leftie bureaucrat’

Emergency measures bailed out jails at last minute as No 10 refused to cut prisoner numbers until ‘cliff edge’ reached, former watchdog reports

Dame Ann Owers, a former chief inspector of prisons, found the criminal justice system had been 'in crisis' for more than 18 months under the Tory government.