Asked if early release could be scrapped altogether, she said: “That’s not a decision for me to make.” Mrs Badenoch added a review “might mean that he’s just stalling and he might do it again later”, with the Prime Minister pressing ahead with the early release scheme. Early release could have benefitted Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers, two of Pc Harper’s killers. She welcomed Mr Burnham’s move to pause early prison releases, but said he needed to make permanent changes to the scheme. Deciding what to do about the early release scheme poses an early challenge for Mr Burnham, with the prison system currently at 97% of its operational capacity.