ipp prisoners. I fear it will also be the stance taken by any new government. He states "it would be wrong to assume in any individual case what sentence the court would have imposed under such a different regime."

But of course when a judge was setting the length of tariff he/she had to consider what the determinate sentence would have been "under a different regime". It is still my opinion that the government could order an urgent review of all those sentenced, who are post tariff and the Public Protection Casework Section could consider the current level of risk to the public in those individual cases, for an immediate release on licence.

THE BIG PROBLEM here is that the probation service are also in chaos and do not have enough resources to manage a sudden increase in releases.I feel this situation could drag on and on and on for a variety of legal and logistical reasons. There is a lot of tea and sympathy being shared but who can ultimately clear up this mess ?? 

 By Cls Oxford‎"IPP "Petition.Thank you for your support.30 April

• Helga Speck Let's not forget those who are protesting their innocence serving these sentences.
  Veronica Cooke It will take someone of courage to turn this mess around - whether there is someone of this calibre in Parliament who could get this going, I have no idea. Maybe more Ipps taking the Govt to court might be the push that's needed. I know there are several cases in the system at the moment. Here's hoping!

  Please find attached the response I received today from John Howell. He is not able to support and is asking me to consider that "there is an increasing number of releases". Of course, he does not elaborate on the speed of such releases or mention the problems currently faced by the Parole Board who are struggling to cover Oral Hearings. He makes it clear that he does not feel it is right to alter... retrospectively sentences that have been "lawfully" imposed by a court and this is the current coalition stance