Following the announcement from the Ministry of Justice that pregnant prisoners will be temporarily released from prison, Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson Daisy Cooper said: “This decision to release prisoners who are pregnant and at increased risk from coronavirus is necessary and welcome, but should have been taken much sooner.
“Prisons are overcrowded and prison staff were already massively overstretched before coronavirus. Now with 20% of staff off work due to the virus and rising, we are getting close to breaking point.
“The Government must go much further and faster to prevent us sleepwalking into a huge Covid crisis in our prisons.
“The Government must urgently listen to prison governors and end overcrowding in prisons, including releasing prisoners serving short sentences and suspending any new short sentences.”