Top News

Keir Starmer has been dealt a humiliating blow as GB News was halted for a breaking announcement. It was revealed that 179 prisoners were released by mistake in England over the past year - a figure which Reform UK's Robert Jenrick described as "pathetic".

Joining Martin Daubney on GB News, he fumed: "It's pathetic, isn't it? How can we be in a situation where prisoners are being released accidentally? Maybe the figures are a couple lower than in previous years but one is too many and Lammy's record on this is absolutely appalling. Calamity Lammy. Remember him in the House of Commons when he didn't have the numbers, he didn't know what was going on. It's absolutely appaling. We need to get a grip on this. He needs to stop this from happening."

Daubney referenced one of the worst cases of this, when illegal immigrant Hadush Kebatu was mistakenly released from Chelmsford Prison instead of being handed over to officials for deportation.

Kebatu had been previously jailed for 12 months for sexually assaulting a teenage girl in Epping. He was arrested once again by Met Police officers and deported back to Addis Ababa.

It was later revealed that Kebatu was paid £500 to ensure he did not disrupt the flight back to the Ethiopian capital.

"These cases matter, these cases keep happening," the presenter said.

Jenrick agreed: "Time and again it happens due to the gross incompetence of the prison service. Yeah, you can have new technology, but there has to be someone who is taking responsibility for this.

"David Lammy said last year that he was putting in place the strictest ever checks. They're obviously not working because it continues to happen."

He added: "Every passing week, according to these stats, at least someone is being released onto our streets and that means more people being put in danger and the victims of these crimes, fearful that these horrible individuals will end up back in their neighbourhoods, threatening them or their families once again.

Asked how Reform would stop this from happening, Jenrick said: "We want to make sure that there are proper checks and the prison officers involved are trained in order to stop this happening. It is the sloppiest behaviour I have ever seen if this continues."