More offenders could be tagged, as minister insists he's 'not soft on crime'
- Prisons minister James Timpson announced that more offenders could be tagged instead of imprisoned following violent incidents at HMP Frankland in April 2025.
- Timpson's proposal responds to increasing prison violence, prison overcrowding, and the system nearing breaking point since he took office in July 2024.
- Over 88,000 inmates are held in England and Wales with fewer than 1,000 spare places, while new facilities like HMP Millsike partly address rising prison populations.
- Timpson stated, "I don’t think I’m soft on crime at all" and emphasized his toughness while meeting over 30 tech firms on offender monitoring solutions.
- The government’s move toward tagging aims to reduce reoffending, ease prison strain, and indicates ongoing efforts to balance punishment with rehabilitation.
Insights by Ground AI
Does this summary seem wrong?
4 Articles
4 Articles
All
Left
2
Center
1
Right
More offenders could be tagged, as minister insists he's 'not soft on crime'
1 hour agoShareSaveSima KotechaShareSavePrisons minister James Timpson has told the BBC more criminals could be tagged in future instead of being sent to prison – but insists he’s not “soft on crime”.More than 30 companies, including Microsoft and Google, will meet the government today to explore how technology could help monitor offenders in the community more effectively and tackle violence in prison.Lord Timpson says tagging more people inste…
Coverage Details
Total News Sources4
Leaning Left2Leaning Right0Center1Last UpdatedBias Distribution67% Left
Bias Distribution
- 67% of the sources lean Left
67% Left
L 67%
C 33%
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
Ownership
To view ownership data please Upgrade to Vantage