Sima Kotecha
Senior UK correspondent

David Lammy is meeting several prison governors today "to get a view from the front line", a prison staffer tells me.

The staffer says the additional checks introduced after Hadush Kabetu are a "significant burden" on staff and, in some cases, have been taking a day to complete.

There's anger among some governors and senior staff about why the checks were brought in without a consultation.

All of this is expected to be relayed to the justice secretary later.

It could get fiery.

As justice secretary and deputy PM, Lammy finds himself under double pressurepublished at 08:28 GMT

08:28 GMT

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Image source, UK Parliament

David Lammy finds himself doubly pressured this morning.

As justice secretary, he has ultimate ministerial responsibility for the prison system in which just one institution accidentally released two new prisoners in only five days.

And as deputy prime minister, he was standing in at PMQs yesterday when he boasted about tough new checks designed to avoid accidental releases, but decided not to divulge information about these new cases even under repeated questioning from his Conservative opponent.

As a matter of political strategy, that is causing consternation in Labour ranks, where even some ministerial colleagues believe he should have been more candid. The government says this was not possible because Lammy did not yet have accurate information about "key details".

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning, shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said Lammy needed to "get a grip" and accused the government of a "dereliction of duty".

Yet he also admitted the previous Conservative government’s record on prisons was "poor and unacceptable", with dozens released from prison by mistake every year during their tenure too.

The government says that austerity means they inherited a prison system in a deep and multi-faceted crisis.

MPs do not return to the House of Commons until Tuesday but it feels unsustainable for Lammy not to speak in public about this before then.

Here's a recap of what's been happening and the key lines from this morning:

• The Met Police are still searching for Algerian national Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, who was released in error last Wednesday
• Surrey Police are also looking for William Smith, who was jailed for fraud on Monday but released later the same day after a court clerical error
• Justice Minister Alex Davies-Jones told BBC Breakfast she shared the public's "frustration and fury", but said problems in the justice system "won't be fixed overnight"
• She also said the government will hold an "urgent meeting" with prison governors today, and David Lammy will share news on building a new prison
• Meanwhile, Conservative Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the latest situation is "a complete and utter shambles"
• Mark Fairhurst, national chair of the Prison Officers Association, said the "entire criminal justice system is in complete meltdown" - insisting a royal commission is needed to put things right

The chair of the Justice Select Committee, Andy Slaughter, has said many of the problems in the prison system are "systemic".

Speaking to The World Tonight on BBC Radio 4 last night, Slaughter, who is also a Labour MP, said: "These [the latest mistaken release of prisoners] are just the symptoms."

As we've been reporting, 262 prisoners were released in error in the year to March this year - a 128% increase on 115 in the previous 12 months, according to government figures published in July.

Slaughter said "this is a problem for this government to solve", but added he is "not sure" whether the problems are mainly caused by this government, as they have built up over a long time.

"It’s up to David Lammy to get to grips with that," he says.

Let's bring you a bit more from Justice Minister Alex Davies-Jones' interview with BBC Breakfast earlier.

She says the government is convening "an urgent meeting" with prison governors today "to try and figure out exactly what is going on on the ground".

Davies-Jones focuses on the "reams of paper" that prison staff have to deal with - saying tech experts will be brought in to help.

Mark Fairhurst, national chair of the Prison Officers Association, has been explaining just how complicated the justice system is earlier on BBC Breakfast.

"Releases in error are happening on average 22 a month," Fairhurst says. "Only now it is in the spotlight."

"We realise that the entire criminal justice system at this moment in time is in complete meltdown. It is not just prisons, it is probation, it is the court, it is the police.

"We want a royal commission to discover what has gone wrong and more importantly put it right."

Image source, PA Media

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick, speaking this morning, has called the situation a "complete and utter shambles".

Appearing on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he points to David Lammy's comments after Hadush Kebatu's release, saying Lammy would put more robust checks in place.

"It took six days for the prison service supposedly to even become aware this has happened" and inform the police, Jenrick says, "who are now a week behind in the manhunt to find him".

The shadow minister criticises Lammy's performance at PMQs yesterday and accuses him of a "total dereliction of duty".

Speaking about mistaken prison releases more generally, Jenrick underlines "every single accidental release [...] is unacceptable".

He acknowledges there were such releases under the previous Conservative government, but says the figure "has increased dramatically" under Labour.

Calling for more prisons to be built, he adds: "What the British people want to see now are proper checks put in place".

"That is a specific administrative failure by the Ministry of Justice overseen by David Lammy," Jenrick says.

• You can find a timeline on how the latest mistaken prisoner release unfolded here

The minister is lastly asked about Labour's proposals to reform sentencing, which would allow prisoners to be released early.

She says there's a "crisis" in the justice system, and criticises the previous Conservative government for building only 500 new prison places in 14 years.

Labour, she says, will build 14,000 places - but adds that to avoid being in this situation again, we "need to break the cycle".

She points to work on electronic monitoring and investment in probation, pledging that under this government there will always be a prison place whenever needed.

Asked about comments from the national chair of the Prison Officers' Association, who said the entire system is in meltdown, Davies-Jones repeats funding commitments but says the problem "won't be fixed overnight".

• Our interview with the justice minister has now ended - stay with us as we continue to bring you the latest

Davies-Jones says the government needs to "make sure our prison system is fit for the future" and that the prison service is recovering from "14 years of austerity", referring to the policy of the previous government.

"This is going to take long-term vision and long-term change - which we are delivering," she tells BBC Breakfast.

The minister also says more foreign national offenders should be deported when they are sentenced.

"Being in this country is a privilege not a right," she says.

Davies-Jones is now asked why the problem is getting worse - with 262 mistaken releases now happening in a year.

She acknowledges that at the end of the previous Conservative government, there were 17 accidental releases a month, and that figure is now 22.

The minister points to issues including the amount of paperwork involved, and says the government is using tech experts to help improve the system.

Asked about David Lammy's new checks, which he said he would put in place after Kebatu's release, Davies-Jones says he is on a visit this morning "breaking new ground" on building a new prison - adding that the media will be hearing from him later today.

As both prisoners released in error are still at large, the justice minister has just been asked on BBC Breakfast to bring us up to date.

Alex Davies-Jones says police have actively released public appeals and are urging people to report anything they see.

The minister is asked why the government is in this position again - just weeks after Hadush Kebatu was released in error from HMP Chelmsford.

"It is totally unacceptable and I share the fury and frustration," she says, adding that it speaks to a wider problem in the justice system.

Justice Minister Alex Davies-Jones will soon be answering questions on BBC Breakfast.

You can Watch live at the top of this page at 07:30 - or stay with us here and we'll bring you the latest on what she has to say.

29 October: A 24-year-old Algerian man is mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth.

13:00 on 4 November: The Prison Service informs the Metropolitan Police that a prisoner had been released in error on 29 October.

Overnight into 5 November: Justice Secretary David Lammy is informed about the accidental release.

Around 11:45 on 5 November: The Conservatives reportedly find out that a wrongly released prisoner is at large.

12:00 on 5 November: Lammy repeatedly refuses to answer when asked by shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge whether any more asylum seekers had been wrongly released since the high-profile case of an Epping sex offender last month.

12:43 on 5 November: Cartlidge tells the House of Commons that a second imprisoned migrant had been mistakenly freed - Lammy declined to respond.

13:41 on 5 November: Lammy releases a statement saying he is "outraged and appalled by the foreign criminal wanted by the police" and promises that an "urgent manhunt" is under way.

16:06 on 5 November: Surrey Police launch a manhunt after it was made aware of a second prisoner, William Smith, being released by mistake on Monday.

16:41 on 5 November: The Metropolitan Police confirm a search is under way for Algerian national Brahim Kaddour-Cherif.

21:05 on 5 November: The Ministry of Justice releases a statement, saying David Lammy "had not been accurately informed of key details" when he was in PMQs.

The papers this morning are focusing on continued police hunts and government criticism after more mistaken prisoner releases.

"Prisons in chaos - Not again ..." writes the Daily Mirror, while the i Paper leads with "Manhunt for new missing prisoners as Deputy PM feels heat over blunders".

Other front pages this morning include:

"‘Shocking’ release of Algerian sex attack convict" – Daily Express

"Lammy under pressure after two more prisoners mistakenly freed" – The Guardian

The justice system is failing - the buck stops with Lammypublished at 06:52 GMT

06:52 GMT

Chris Mason
Political editor

Image source, House of Commons

Last week, after a migrant sex offender was mistakenly released from prison, Justice Secretary David Lammy said he was implementing the "strongest release checks that have ever been in place".

However, since then, details have emerged of two more prisoners being wrongly let out.

It is always perilous for a government when it clearly lacks grip on an issue voters would reasonably expect it to be in control of.

The stand-out example of this in recent years has been the arrival of migrants on small boats.

From Rishi Sunak's promise to "stop the boats" to Keir Starmer's promise to "smash the gangs", both have been found wanting and the problem remains huge.

Now the government confronts another example: a justice system that is palpably, transparently and repeatedly failing – and where measures designed to address the issue of letting prisoners out by accident aren't working.

According to government figures published in July, 262 prisoners were released in error in the year to March of this year - a 128% increase on 115 in the previous 12 months.

In other words, it has been a problem for some time, and it is getting worse.

• Read Chris Mason's analysis in full here

Image source, PA Media

At Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, David Lammy, standing in for Keir Starmer, faced repeated questions about whether any more asylum-seeking offenders have been accidentally released from prison since the case of Hadush Kebatu.

Lammy didn’t give a direct answer, instead telling MPs that a review was announced after Kebatu’s release, to be led by former Met Police Deputy Commissioner Lynne Owens.

“After his release I put in place the toughest checks we've ever had in the prison system. It is important that Lynne Owens is able to get to the bottom of her work - I suspect there will be more checks and balances we need to do,” he said.

“What we inherited was a complex system that they [the Conservatives] set up, letting people out on the sly - that's part of the problem and we're trying to fix it."

Good morning.

The police search for two prisoners mistakenly released is continuing.

Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, an Algerian sex offender, and William Smith, convicted of fraud, were released in error from Wandsworth Prison.

Pressure is mounting on Justice Secretary David Lammy, who promised to put in place extra checks to prevent cases like this after migrant sex offender Hadush Kebatu was mistakenly released from HMP Chelmsford in Essex last month.

We’ll be following developments closely today - stay with us.