On Saturday it was being reported that Andy Burnham might block the early release of two men who killed policeman Andrew Harper. On Monday we learned that Downing Street was briefing that it ‘cannot stop’ their early releases, claiming it is ‘not possible’ to exempt just these two men from the scheme. In 2020 emergency legislation was introduced preventing the early release of prisoners convicted of terrorism offences. Reform promised to end early releases for ‘serious violent crimes and rape’, so that those prisoners would serve their entire sentence behind bars. They are offering a vision of a prison system in which we have enough space to jail everyone we wish to.