Story perspectives

Burnham Blocks Release; Farage Plans Deportations, Nightingale Prisons

8/12/2026

Summary

Burnham Blocks Release

Andy Burnham ordered the Justice Secretary to block the release of PC Andrew Harper’s killers, Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers.
Cole and Bowers, serving 13-year manslaughter sentences from 2020, are due for release in January.
Henry Long’s 16-year term makes him ineligible for release.
A petition with 880,000 signatures and a senior police letter urge keeping them jailed, while officials warn the manslaughter exemption could cause another release round within 18 months.

Summary

Farage Proposes Exports

Nigel Farage, Reform UK leader, proposed sending all foreign prisoners abroad to free 10,000 UK prison spaces.
The party is negotiating rentals with El Salvador, Kosovo, Estonia and Lithuania, citing Denmark’s €70,000 (£60,000) per-cell cost.
England and Wales held 10,134 foreign nationals, 12% of inmates, at the end of June.
Reform also plans 12,400 modular “Nightingale” prisons on Ministry of Defence land within 18 months under military aid to civil authorities framework.

History

Historical Context

The 1994 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, introduced by Home Secretary Michael Howard under Prime Minister John Major, aimed to curb illegal raves after the 1992 Castlemorton festival; it passed on 3 November 1994 despite Labour abstention and sparked large “Kill the Bill” protests. Its legacy of tough-on-crime measures informs current debates over parole and prison capacity.

1 of 3

Burnham Blocks Release

Andy Burnham ordered the Justice Secretary to block the release of PC Andrew Harper’s killers, Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers.
Cole and Bowers, serving 13-year manslaughter sentences from 2020, are due for release in January.
Henry Long’s 16-year term makes him ineligible for release.
A petition with 880,000 signatures and a senior police letter urge keeping them jailed, while officials warn the manslaughter exemption could cause another release round within 18 months.

1 / 3