David Lammy has acknowledged that he lacked all the necessary details regarding the mistaken release of a prisoner when he avoided answering questions during Prime Minister’s Questions. As the Deputy PM filling in for Keir Starmer, he justified his restraint in providing more information to MPs by stating the risk of potentially misinforming the House of Commons and the public without having complete information at hand.
During an intense exchange with Tory James Cartlidge on Wednesday, Mr. Lammy, also serving as the Justice Secretary, chose to criticize the Tory party’s track record on prisons instead of directly addressing questions about further mistaken releases of asylum seekers following the release of Hadush Kebatu from an Epping hotel.
Subsequently, it was revealed after PMQs that another prisoner, registered sex offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, had been erroneously released from HMP Wandsworth, prompting inquiries into Mr. Lammy’s awareness of the situation. Notably, Kaddour-Cherif was not an asylum seeker, as Mr. Cartlidge had been inquiring about. The Ministry of Justice clarified that details were still emerging about the case at the time of Mr. Lammy’s appearance at PMQs, including the offender’s immigration status.
In response to the PMQs exchange, Mr. Lammy explained that he first learned about the situation on Wednesday morning while preparing for Prime Minister’s Questions, where he had incomplete details. He emphasized the importance of having all the necessary information before updating the House and the public on serious matters to avoid any potential misinformation.
Following the revelation of Kaddour-Cherif’s wrongful release, another erroneous release involving William, also known as Billy, Smith was reported. Smith, a fraudster, was released due to a sentencing mix-up related to someone with a similar surname, highlighting a court error rather than a failure of the prison service.
Mr. Lammy, who assumed the role of Justice Secretary in September, acknowledged the significant challenges faced by Labour in addressing the prisons crisis, emphasizing the need to reduce the rate of error in releases. He highlighted the longstanding issue of errors in the paper-based system and the ongoing crisis in the prison system, indicating a substantial task ahead in rectifying the situation.