Andy Burnham says he’s ‘increasingly confident’ early release of PC Harper killers can be prevented - UK politics live

The Prime Minister says other work to reduce prisoner numbers could allow for more space for serious offenders Debbie Adlam, the mother of PC Andrew Harper, told the BBC this morning that she had a “bit of hope” about her son’s killers being excluded from the early release scheme followng a call from Downing Street about this last night. Referring to a conversation with a member of the PM’s staff, Adlam told BBC Breakfast: She said that he wanted to convey that he wants to do everything that he can and has more hope now of finding a resolution to this to try and keep them in prison. I think the fact that it’s actually come from Downing Street – I’ve got to try and have some faith in it, but at the same time, I have to protect my own feelings. It’s just been up and down. It’s just the rollercoaster of just hope, not even more than that is really, really draining. We’ve now got a little bit of hope that we didn’t have before. I understand the depth of public concern about the potential early release of those involved with the killing of PC Andrew Harper - and I share it. I fully appreciate the anguish of Andrew’s family and, more broadly, of all those victims and their families who may see those who caused them such harm not serve their full sentence. Continue reading...