Conservatives to force votes on Labour plans to release thousands of rapists and paedophiles early

Tomorrow [Tuesday 20^th October], the Conservatives will force votes on sentencing reforms to keep rapists and paedophiles behind bars.

Labour's new sentencing plan will see over 2,100 rapists, stalkers, child groomers, and paedophiles have their jail time cut. From 2022 to 2024, an average of 2,564 jailed offenders annually were sentenced under Standard Determinate Sentences for serious sexual crimes against children, including rape, grooming, and possession of indecent images. Labour's proposals mean that over 83 per cent of these child sex offenders will serve less time behind bars.

These are not minor offenders. They include some of the most harrowing crimes imaginable. The rape of children under 13, sexual assault, grooming, and the possession of indecent images of children. Yet under Labour's Sentencing Bill, thousands of these dangerous offenders could be freed halfway through their sentences and some offenders will serve only a third.

Labour's changes will also benefit over 62 per cent of jailed rapists, as 624 of the 994 offenders jailed each year for rape will be eligible for reduced time in prison.

In total, 85 per cent of the most serious jailed offenders are included in the reductions – more than 6,500 of the most jailed serious offenders, including rapists, paedophiles, stalkers, violent attackers, and even attempted murderers, will qualify for early release.

Importantly these are permanent changes rather than emergency changes to short term prison population challenges. Labour have said “the most serious” offenders will be excluded despite this data highlighting thousands of serious offences being included, in most cases the majority.

This follows a wider pattern under Labour's approach to criminal justice. Labour have already freed more than 26,000 criminals through early-release schemes and plans to extend it to tens of thousands more. The Government's own projections show that as many as 43,000 offenders could avoid prison altogether as Labour pushes ahead with plans to scrap all custodial sentences of under 12 months.

The Conservative Party is taking action to stop it.

We have tabled an amendment to the Sentencing Bill to ensure rapists, stalkers, groomers, and violent offenders stay behind bars. Our amendment would carve out the most serious crimes, including rape, assault by penetration, grievous bodily harm, stalking, and all sexual offences against children, so that they cannot benefit from Labour's early-release provisions.

The Conservative Party have also introduced amendments to:

• Require courts to collect and publish detailed data on sentencing. This would shine a light on who is being sentenced for what crimes, improving transparency and restoring public confidence in the justice system.
• Make judges' sentencing remarks publicly available within two days. This is so that victims and the public can see exactly why sentences are handed down, ensuring openness and accountability in the courts.
• Automatically prevent parents convicted of child sexual offences from having parental rights. This is to protect children from further harm and stop convicted offenders from retaining influence over their victims or families.
• Extend the time victims and families have to challenge lenient sentences. This would give victims and families up to a year to appeal and ensure they are told about their right to do so, so no victim misses the chance to seek justice.
• Expand whole-life orders for the murder of police or prison officers. This would ensure killers motivated by hatred or revenge against those in uniform face the toughest possible sentence, even if the victim was off duty.

Having only agreed to a national inquiry when Conservative pressure forced their hand, while cutting frontline victim-support services, and freeing tens of thousands of criminals onto our streets, it is crystal clear that this is a government intent on serving criminals, not victims.

But our plan goes further. The Conservatives have also announced plans to hire 10,000 new police officers and abolish the Sentencing Council as part of a major crackdown on crime and soft justice.

The next Conservative Government will hire 10,000 extra officers, backed by £650 million a year, to rebuild frontline policing. This will enable intensive “hotspot policing” in 2,000 neighbourhoods with the highest levels of violent crime, robbery, and anti-social behaviour – covering around 25 per cent of all serious violent crime nationwide and preventing an estimated 35,000 offences a year. The Home Secretary will gain new powers to set operational priorities directly, removing bureaucratic barriers that prevent intervention.

The Conservatives will also abolish the Sentencing Council to stop two-tier justice and end lenient sentences for serious criminals. Created by Labour in 2009, the Sentencing Council is an unelected body responsible for drafting sentencing guidelines used by judges across England and Wales. In recent years, it has produced guidance that undermines equality before the law by proposing that offenders should be treated differently based on personal background or immigration status. A new Conservative Government will transfer responsibility for sentencing guidance to the Lord Chancellor, ensuring sentencing reflects the will of Parliament and public expectations.

Taken together, these measures form a comprehensive plan to strengthen the justice system, protect victims, and restore public confidence in law and order. By preventing the early release of serious offenders, improving transparency in sentencing, increasing police presence in high-crime areas, and ensuring accountability in how sentences are set, the Conservative Party aim to create a system that is fair, consistent, and focused on public safety.

Dr Kieran Mullan MP, Shadow Justice Minister, said:

“Labour's early release plan is a betrayal of victims and a gift to rapists and paedophiles. Keir Starmer is putting criminals before communities and letting predators out early.

“Under Labour's plans, thousands of the most serious would no longer be treated as such, an insult to thousands of victims across the country. Anyone who votes for these plans will have to explain exactly why these crimes do not count among the most serious offences.

“The Conservatives will fight this moral rot every step of the way, and our fully-funded plan to put an extra ten thousand police officers on the streets will help to restore public order”

ENDS 

Notes to Editors:

Labour's Sentencing Bill changes the rules on early release for serious criminals:

• The Justice Secretary is releasing murderers, rapists, and violent criminals after serving just half of their sentence. The Justice Secretary will change the law so that most criminals, including sex offenders and robbers, will be released after serving just a third of their sentence with the exception of such as killers and rapists, who will have to serve at least half of their sentence. (UK Parliament, Sentencing Bill, 2 September 2025, link).

• Instead of sentencing criminals to prison, judges will be given new powers to ban criminals from football matches, concerts and pubs. Judges will also be able to introduce driving limits and travel bans as a form of ‘punishment' for any offence in any circumstance. (MoJ, Press Release, 23 August 2025, link).

Labour is set to release thousands of rapists, stalkers, child groomers, and paedophiles under early release:

• More than 2,145 jailed paedophiles a year, including child rapists and groomers, will have their jail time cut, many by up to a third – meaning that more than 83 per cent will see a reduction in their time inside. (Ministry of Justice, Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: December 2024, 15 May 2025, link; CRD Analysis, 18 October 2025, available on request).

17B.2 Sexual assault of a male child under 13; 19D Rape of a female aged under 16; 19E Rape of a female child under 13 by a male; 19G Rape of a male aged under 16; 19H Rape of a male child under 13 by a male; 20B.1 Sexual assault of a female child under 13 – penetration; 20B.2 Sexual assault of a female child under 13; 21.1 Sexual activity with a child under 13 - indictable only; 21.3 Sexual activity with a child under 13 - offender aged 18 or over or age of offender unspecified - triable either way; 22.1 Sexual activity involving a child under 16 - indictable only; 22.3 Sexual activity involving a child under 16 - offender aged 18 or over - triable either way; 23.1 Familial sexual offences (incest) with a child family member aged under 13 - indictable only; 23.3 Familial sexual offences (incest) with a child family member aged under 13 - offender aged 18 or over - triable either way; 23.4 Familial sexual offences (incest) with a child family member aged 13 to 17 - indictable only; 23.6 Familial sexual offences (incest) with a child family member aged 13 to 17 - offender aged 18 or over - triable either way; 71.3 Possess a paedophile manual - triable either way; 86.1 Taking, permitting to be taken or making, distributing or publishing indecent photographs or pseudo photographs of children; 86.2 Possession of indecent photograph of a child; 86.3 Possessing prohibited images of children; 88A Sexual grooming.

(Ministry of Justice, Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: December 2024, 15 May 2025, link; CRD Analysis, 18 October 2025, available on request).

• Over 62 per cent of jailed rapists will also benefit from the changes to early release. 624 out of the 994 jailed each year will be eligible for the changes to early release. This average is based on three years of data from 2022 to 2024. (Ministry of Justice, Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: December 2024, 15 May 2025, link; CRD Analysis, 18 October 2025, available on request).

• Over 85 per cent of the most serious jailed offenders are included in the reductions. 6505 of the 7648 of the most serious offenders including rapists, stalkers, paedophiles, those causing death by dangerous driving, the most serious assaults and even attempted murderers will be eligible for the changes to early release. (Ministry of Justice, Criminal Justice System statistics quarterly: December 2024, 15 May 2025, link; CRD Analysis, 18 October 2025, available on request).

• The Justice Secretary is abolishing custodial sentences of 12 months or less, handing over 40,000 criminals a ‘get out of jail free' card. Criminals, including hyper prolific shoplifters and those who assault emergency workers, will walk free with no prison time.

The Conservatives have a credible alternative to protect victims:

• The Conservative Party are tabling an amendment that will ensure the most serious criminals, including rapists, remain behind bars. Amendment follows:

Dr Kieran Mullan – Amendment 24

Clause 20, page 37, line 14, at end insert—

“(ab) but sections 244ZA(8)(a) and (aa) do not apply to any person convicted of—

(a) rape;

(b) assault by penetration;

(c) rape of a child under 13;

(d) assault of a child under 13 by penetration;

(e) inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity;

(f) paying for the sexual services of a child aged under 13;

(g) kidnapping or false imprisonment with the intention of committing a sexual offence;

(h) creating or possessing indecent photographs of children;

(i) grievous bodily harm;

(j) grooming;

(k) stalking;

(l) causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable child or adult; or

(m) death by dangerous driving, and

(ac) but sections 244ZA(8)(a) and (aa) cannot come into force until the Secretary of State has consulted on and ensured exclusions for all offences considered to be serious violence, offences against children, sexual offences and domestic abuse offences, and”

Member's explanatory statement

This amendment would disapply the clause 20 early release provisions of the Bill in relation to those convicted of the offences listed in the amendment, and would require the Secretary of State to consult on and ensure exclusions for those convicted of other serious violent and sexual offence categories.

(House of Commons, Sentencing Bill (Amendment Paper), 17 October 2025, link).

Other amendments the Conservative Party are putting to the Sentencing Bill:

• The Conservative Party are tabling an amendment that will require courts to collect and publish detailed data on sentencing to improve transparency and public trust.

Dr Kieran Mullan NC8

To move the following Clause—

“Victim personal statements

(1) The Secretary of State shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, issue revised guidance on the content of victim personal statements.

(2) The revised guidance issued under subsection (1) must stipulate that when making a victim personal statement, a victim shall be able to say anything they wish about the defendant, provided it is not contrary to any statutory limitations on free speech, makes allegations of untried criminal conduct or is disorderly language.

(3) The court must disregard any prejudicial comments made during a victim personal statement.”

Member's explanatory statement

This new clause would require the Secretary of State to review how to make victim personal statements less restrictive and clarify what can be included.

(House of Commons, Sentencing Bill (Amendment Paper), 17 October 2025, link).

• The Conservative Party are tabling an amendment that will require courts to collect and publish detailed data on sentencing to improve transparency and public trust.

Dr Kieran Mullan NC9

To move the following Clause—

“Duty to collect and publish data on sentencing

(1) Within 24 hours of the conclusion of the passing of a sentence, the relevant court must provide HM Courts and Tribunals Service (“HMCTS”) with

information regarding—

(a) the offence category;

(b) the sentence length; and

(c) such information about the sentenced individual as the Secretary of State may specify in regulations, but which must include—

(i) nationality,

(ii) sex at birth,

(iii) country of birth,

(iv) method of entry to the United Kingdom,

(v) visa route,

(vi) visa status, and

(vii) asylum status.

(2) HMCTS must collect and record the information set out in subsection (1) in a safe and secure manner.

(3) The Secretary of State must publish statistics on the information set out in subsection (1) no less than once every three months.”

Member's explanatory statement

This new clause would require HMCTS to collect data and other information on sentencing and sentenced offenders, and would require the Government to publish statistics on that data every three months.

(House of Commons, Sentencing Bill (Amendment Paper), 17 October 2025, link).

• The Conservative Party are tabling an amendment that will make judges' sentencing remarks publicly available within two days to ensure openness and accountability.

Dr Kieran Mullan NC10

To move the following Clause—

“Court transcripts of sentencing remarks

(1) All transcripts of sentencing remarks made in the Crown Court must be published within two sitting days of being delivered.

(2) All published sentencing remarks must be made freely available, including online.”

Member's explanatory statement

This new clause would require all sentencing remarks made in the Crown Court to be published and made available to all.

(House of Commons, Sentencing Bill (Amendment Paper), 17 October 2025, link).

• The Conservative Party are tabling an amendment that will automatically prevent parents convicted of child sexual offences from having contact or parental rights over their children.

Dr Kieran Mullan NC11

To move the following Clause—

“Prohibited steps orders

(1) The Children Act 1989 is amended as follows.

(2) In section 8 (Child arrangements orders and other orders with respect to children), in the closing words of subsection (3), after “include” insert “proceedings in the Crown Court or Magistrate's Court under section 10A or”.

(3) After section 10 insert—

“10A Duty of a sentencing court to make a prohibited steps order in respect of sexual offences

(1) This section applies where an offender has parental responsibility for a child and the offender is convicted of a sexual offence involving any child victim.

(2) Where this section applies, a court must make a prohibited steps order when sentencing the offender.

(3) A prohibited steps order made under this section must—

(a) cease to have effect if an offender is acquitted on appeal for the offence in relation to which the prohibited steps order was imposed; and

(b) continue to have effect during an offender's licence period after release for the relevant offence.

(4) A prohibited steps order made under this section is to be treated for the purposes of section 31F(6) of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 (Proceedings and decisions) as if it were made by the family court.””

Member's explanatory statement

This new clause would require the courts to make a “prohibited steps order” (PSO) – preventing a parent from taking a specific action or set of actions regarding their child – after the conviction of a person with parental responsibilities for a sexual offence involving a child victim.

(House of Commons, Sentencing Bill (Amendment Paper), 17 October 2025, link).

• The Conservative Party are tabling an amendment that will extend the time victims and families have to challenge lenient sentences and ensure they are informed of their rights to do so.

Dr Kieran Mullan NC12

To move the following Clause—

“Unduly lenient sentences scheme: victims

(1) The Criminal Justice Act 1988 is amended as follows.

(2) In section 36 (Reviews of sentencing), after subsection (2) insert—

“(2A) An application may be made to the Attorney General to review any sentence passed by a Crown Court under the terms set out in this section.

(2B) An application under subsection (2A) must be made within—

(a) one year of the sentence being passed, if the application is made by—

(i) the victim of the offence for which the sentence was passed; or

(ii) the next of kin of a deceased victim or a victim who lacks capacity; or

(b) 56 days of the sentence being passed, if made by any other person.

(2C) The Crown Prosecution Service must write to—

(a) any victim of any offence for which a sentence has been passed in the Crown Court; or

(b) the next of kin of any deceased victim; within 10 working days of a sentence being passed, to provide details of the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme, the application process for the scheme, and the deadlines set out in subsection (2B) of this section.””

Member's explanatory statement

This new clause would extend the deadline for applications to the Unduly Lenient Sentences Scheme from 28 days to 56 days, or for a year for victims of crime (or the next of kin of deceased victims). It would also require the CPS to notify victims about the scheme.

(House of Commons, Sentencing Bill (Amendment Paper), 17 October 2025, link).

• The Conservative Party are tabling an amendment that will expand whole life orders for the murder of police or prison officers, including cases motivated by their duties even when off duty.

Dr Kieran Mullan NC16

To move the following Clause—

“Whole life order: murder of a police or prison officer

(1) The Sentencing Code is amended as follows.

(2) In paragraph 2 of Schedule 21 (Determination of minimum term in relation to mandatory life sentence for murder etc), in sub-paragraph (2)(c), after “duty,”, insert “or if the motivation for the murder was connected to the police officer or prison officer's current or former duties,””

Member's explanatory statement

This new clause would expand the circumstances in which it is appropriate to apply a whole life order for murdering a prison or police officer, to include murder motivated by the victim's current or former duties.

(House of Commons, Sentencing Bill (Amendment Paper), 17 October 2025, link).

Labour's Record on Criminal Justice:

• Labour have released over 3,500 criminals from prison every month they've been in power, risking the safety of the British public. Since entering office, Labour have released over 26,000 prisoners from prison through their early release scheme. (The Telegraph, 11 August 2025, link).

• Labour have cut funding for frontline victim-support services, forcing the only dedicated helpline for male survivors of abuse to shut down.Victim Support Chief Executive Katie Kempen said, victims will have to go without ‘vital support' ‘unless this decision is reversed' with Safeline, which helps 2,000 men and boys every year in England and Wales, being forced to close after the Ministry of Justice decided to stop funding them. (BBC, 4 December 2024, link; Safeline, News, accessed 16 February 2025, link).

The Conservative Party plan to restore law and order in our country and keep the British public safe: 

• We will hire 10,000 extra police officers, backed by £650 million of funding. To combat Labour's cuts to policing, we would hire 10,000 extra police officers over three years as part of our plan to crack down on crime and support policing. This would cost £650 million per year once fully rolled out.  

• We will give the Home Secretary the power to set overall operational priorities. Too often, police force leaders allocate resources and priorities in ways that make no sense to the public or officers. We will remove the need for a force to be ‘failing' or any College of Policing consent before this power can be used through amendments to the 1996 Police Act. This power will be used to deliver the priorities below. 

• We will redirect resources to catch real criminals, not police free speech. We already announced that we would ban non-crime hate incidents to save 60,000 hours of police time. We will use the new power to set operations priorities to issue guidance to end policing of offensive but non-criminal social media posts.  

• We will introduce proven intense hotspot patrolling in 2,000 areas which covers 25 per cent of all serious violent crime and robbery and should prevent 35,000 offences. We know that a disproportionate amount of crime is committed in a limited number of hotspots. We would therefore mandate routine year-round intensive hotspot patrolling of high-crime areas, including areas of high violent crime, street robbery, shoplifting and anti-social behaviour. We will build on existing hotspot policing with a target of 2,000 hotspots across the country, but on a more intensive basis. This would require an extra 5,550 police officers (Home Office, Research and analysis, 27 March 2025, link).

The Sentencing Council attempted to introduce two-tier sentencing guidelines that undermine the principle of equality before the law:

• The previous Labour Government set up by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales, taking away sentencing powers from elected officials and ushering in a culture of impunity. The Sentencing Council was established by the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, passed under the last Labour Government led by Gordon Brown (Legislation.Gov.UK, Coroners and Justice Act 2009, 12 November 2009, link).

• The Sentencing Council drafted two-tier sentencing guidelines that would have meant a criminal is less likely to go to prison for exactly the same crime if from an ethnic or faith minority, or an immigrant. Set to come into effect from 1 April 2025, the new sentencing guidelines would have urged judges and magistrates to request a pre-sentence report these specific cohorts, meaning they would be less likely to receive a custodial sentence. They also issued that would have allowed illegal immigrants to avoid deportation by urging judges to give sentences of less than 12 months for certain offences to avoid deportation, despite the maximum sentence allowed in UK law being considerably higher (Sentencing Council, Imposition of Community and Custodial Sentences – Effective from 1 April 2025, 5 March 2025, link; The Times, 26 March 2025, link).

• The Justice Secretary called for criminals to be sentenced differently based on their ethnicity, inspiring the Sentencing Council's two-tier sentencing guidelines. David Lammy led a review of the justice system in 2017, title the Lammy Review, which was used by the Sentencing Council when it drew up new guidelines for courts to follow when considering whether to send criminals to prison (The Daily Mail, 7 March 2025, link).

The Conservative Party plan for sentencing guidance

• The Conservative Party will abolish the Sentencing Council and give the Lord Chancellor the power to issue new sentencing guidance, subject to the assent of Parliament. We will do this by introducing new primary legislation to replace the relevant provisions of the Coroners and Justice Act 2008, amend the duties of the Lord Chancellor, as laid out in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, and reallocate the power to issue authoritative sentencing guidelines to the Lord Chancellor.