Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced that hundreds of criminals who were due to be released early will now remain behind bars, confirming that the killers of PC Andrew Harper will stay in prison.

Burnham made the announcement during an interview with BBC Breakfast, expanding the list of prisoners excluded from the early release scheme following weeks of intense public debate. It is an intervention he has wanted to make for some time, having previously insisted he had "pushed to the very limits of what is possible to do".

The move comes despite clear warnings from the Ministry of Justice earlier this month, which cautioned that exempting any more offenders risked "prisons reaching capacity and collapsing". With the adult male prison estate currently operating at 98% capacity, figures within government acknowledge that in the short term, this decision will simply push existing jails even closer to the brink.

To explain how the system will manage, the Prime Minister highlighted several measures: ending controversial indefinite sentences, deporting foreign criminals, and immediately beginning work to build extra cells inside existing prisons.

However, none of these options will create space overnight. Scrapping indefinite sentences requires fresh legislation that could take years to free up beds, while retrofitting prisons for new cells is expected to take months. Furthermore, deportations remain difficult without new international return agreements—demonstrated by the case of grooming gang ringleader Shabir Ahmed, whose deportation has been resisted by Pakistan.

Inside Whitehall, the move is being openly acknowledged as a "political decision". Downing Street was surprised by the sustained media attention the early release scheme received over the summer, and Burnham's team is eager to avoid the early political damage that hit Sir Keir Starmer's premiership over winter fuel payments and freebies during his first weeks.

Victims' families had made it clear to government officials that they did not want changes to the policy dripped out through media leaks. Even so, the shifting position has drawn sharp criticism, with PC Harper's mother telling BBC Breakfast that the government's handling of the situation had been a "hash".

A formal parliamentary statement by the justice secretary had been expected on Tuesday, but Burnham decided to make the announcement himself on breakfast television to provide swift certainty. That decision risks angering the Commons Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, who strongly dislikes major policy statements being delivered outside Parliament.

It also gives political ammunition to Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who has accused Burnham of being a "people pleaser" unable to say no. Pressure on the policy is unlikely to vanish entirely; on Sunday morning, the domestic abuse commissioner warned she remains "deeply concerned about the number of abusers" who are still scheduled to be freed.

Whitehall sources now insist there will be no further exemptions added to the list. I'll be following this one closely as the new parliamentary term begins — check back for updates.