UK government 'considered releasing prisoners during Covid lockdown'

Matt Hancock reveals the 'bonkers' proposal in his coming book that covers his time as health secretary

Matt Hancock, former British health secretary. Getty

The UK government discussed a plan to release “thousands” of prisoners during the Covid-19 lockdown, former health secretary Matt Hancock’s diaries show.

The Daily Mail reported the strategy as it serialises Mr Hancock's journals, as he returns to Westminster after his stint on ITV’s I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!

As health secretary, he was one of the key figures in government as the country dealt with the pandemic.

Mr Hancock reveals in his diaries that the Ministry of Justice proposed to release prisoners amid concerns about the spread of the virus.

“A bonkers proposal from the Ministry of Justice to let prisoners out, as they’d be easier to manage if they’re not in prison," he wrote in a diary entry on March 17.

“Yes, really: they actually thought this might be a goer. I was emphasising [my opposition] so hard that all of a sudden my chair could take the strain no longer and ripped, tipping me unceremoniously on to the floor.'”

One year anniversary of UK's National Covid Memorial Wall - in pictures

A family member pays their respects to those who lost their lives to Covid-19, as the one year anniversary of the National Covid Memorial Wall is marked in London. PA

A woman holds a photograph of a family member who died as she takes part in a march from the National Covid Memorial wall to Downing Street in London. AP Photo

Bereaved families travelled to the wall from across the country to mark the day, with a petition to make the wall a permanent memorial. AP Photo

Bereaved families march alongside the wall. PA

Families with MPs Sir Peter Bottomley, right, and Afzal Khan, left, deliver a petition to 10 Downing Street. PA

Family members write a message to two sisters who died of Covid-19 on the National Covid Memorial wall. AP Photo

Becca Slater, centre, receives a hug as she remembers her father Anthony Elward, who died in 2020. AP Photo

A woman writes a message in a red heart on the wall. AP Photo

Families marching through central London. PA

“Officials are still insisting that Justice Secretary Rob Buckland wants to release thousands of non-violent prisoners to take the pressure off the system," Mr Hancock wrote later, on April 3.

"I keep writing ‘NO’ in large letters on submissions asking me to sign this off.

“It’s obvious the public won’t wear it, yet the idea keeps going back and forth on paper.

“After about the third iteration, I called Rob Buckland, who to my astonishment told me he’d been advised that I was the one who wanted to release them.

“Unfortunately, this still wasn’t the end of the matter. Clearly someone in Whitehall still thought it was a good idea and kept pushing it, to the point that the PM asked to talk to us both. I made my views crystal clear.

“'We cannot lock up literally everyone in the country except prisoners, who we instead release,' I spluttered.”

Covid pandemic in the UK - in pictures

Commuters, some wearing face masks, arrive at London Bridge station. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said his “living with Covid” plan will bring the country “towards a return to normality”. PA

Visitors at Windsor Castle, the main residence of Britain's Queen Elizabeth. The queen tested positive for Covid-19 on February 20. AFP

Mr Johnson speaks to patient Kathryn Wills during visit to a cancer hospital in Carlisle, northern England. AFP

Prof Sarah Gilbert poses with her medal, after she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her role in Covid vaccine development. AFP

The Covid-19 Memorial Wall in London, which has more than 150,000 hearts painted on it. EPA

British Health Secretary Sajid Javid during a visit to officially open the Robinson Building, a new research centre for Covid-19 vaccines. PA

Anti-vaccination protesters demonstrate outside Downing Street against Covid-19 inoculations for children. PA

A woman is screened before receiving a Moderna booster vaccine in a clinical study at St George's University of London. PA

A Ministry of Justice representative said: “HMPPS moved to protect the NHS during the pandemic through the limited release of a very small number of low-level, tagged and risk-assessed prisoners just weeks before they were due to leave prison anyway.

“This was successful in avoiding the thousands of prison deaths predicted by Public Health England.”

According to the paper, Mr Hancock wrote in the prologue to the diaries: “I am proud of what we achieved, especially on the vaccine.

“But there is much to learn for the next public health crisis of this kind, which I am sure will happen in my lifetime.”