Will Burnham stop early release of PC Harper’s killers?

Andy Burnham is pledging that the killers of PC Andrew Harper won’t get early release. But can he escape the trap between doing what's right and doing what's necessary?

The words of PC Harper's mother explain why this story so resonates with the public, and it explains why the prime minister is caught between a bad option and a terrible one.

The case has dominated headlines in relation to the government scheme to release some inmates early to tackle overcrowding in prisons in England and Wales.

Prisons didn't merit a single word on the steps of Downing Street as Burnham moved in, but the question about whether PC Harper's killers should be released early has pursued him since his very first interview.

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Even as he tried to reboot the agenda of the government touting some radical moves on social care or education, he kept getting pulled back to the question of their release.

Now, the Prime Minister says he's determined to work out a way to stop PC Harper's killers from being freed early from prison.

The Conservatives have accused Burnham of constant U-turns saying victims have been re-traumatised, and probation officers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of potential strike action in protest against early release.

The government says it’s “restoring order to a prison system on the brink of collapse”, investing £700m and “making sure the Probation Service has the resource it needs to keep dangerous offenders under closer surveillance than ever before”.

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