Early prisoner release crisis engulfs Labour

‘Our universities have lost the plot’ | What top brain experts do to protect their memory

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Thursday, 23 July 2026 Issue No. 515

Good morning. In less than a year, 38,000 prisoners have had their minimum sentence cut. As Danny Shaw writes, Labour’s early release scheme has left thousands of victims of serious crime in fear. Despite widespread outrage, which has prompted Andy Burnham to review the policy, even more leniency is imminent. Elsewhere, Andy Burnham has found a new niche with his 6am policy announcements. Today’s is a 20 per cent tax break for pubs. You can find the story below. Chris Evans, Editor P.S. Don’t miss this season’s hottest offer. Try a whole year of The Telegraph for £19 – only in our Summer Sale. If you’re already a subscriber make sure you’re logged in to read today’s stories.   In today’s edition ‘Our universities have lost the plot’ — ‘I’ve been cut off from my grandchildren’ — Plus, what top brain experts do to protect their memory

Summer Sale: One year for just £19 Think outside your inbox. Unlock full access to our free-thinking journalism, plus thousands of fun puzzles. Subscribe now   How the early release crisis is engulfing Labour Daniel Dowling-Brooks was released early from his sentence for kidnap and grievous bodily harm Danny Shaw   Just three months after Sir Keir Starmer led Labour to a sweeping general election victory in July 2024, a convicted armed robber single-handedly took the gloss off his fledgling government. Posing on a new £150,000 Bentley after being released seven weeks early from a seven-year sentence for kidnap and grievous bodily harm, Daniel Dowling-Brooks shouted to the cameras: “Big up Keir Starmer.” The humiliating snapshot of the Government’s emergency prison release programme revealed a system close to collapse, one which seemed to reward criminals at the expense of victims. Even so, the early release scheme, which launched the month before Dowling-Brooks walked free, has continued to ramp up. Pc Andrew Harper, pictured with his wife, Lissie, died after being dragged more than a mile by a car’s tow rope Yesterday, Andy Burnham was forced to wade into the row during his second full day in office, after The Telegraph revealed that two of Pc Andrew Harper’s killers were among the criminals who could be released under more lenient plans expected to become operational in September. Burnham pledged to “review the policy” with Alex Norris, his new Justice Secretary. This analysis is available only to subscribers. Continue reading ➤ Chief constable: Burnham must stop early release of Pc Harper’s killers ➤ Nick Timothy: Freeing killers is Labour’s idea of justice ➤   Opinion Allister Heath Burnham is a financial arsonist who will torch the public purse The Prime Minister’s Jekyll-and-Hyde personality masks a ruinous socialism that threatens to bankrupt us Continue reading ➤     Michael Deacon Reform has just called Andy Burnham’s bluff on our immigration crisis Continue reading ➤     Griff Rhys Jones Liverpool Street station must be saved from this huge glass phallus Continue reading ➤     To make sure you don’t miss our newsletters when they land in your inbox, click here. Headlines Burnham to hand pubs 20pc tax break PM’s spending blitz ‘means taxes must rise’ Al Carns refuses to join Government over defence spending Heatwaves caused by fall in pollution Fat jabs increase risk of losing your hair Your essential reads Ric Bienstock explored divisions on university campuses for Speechless, a new BBC documentary series When a black professor was branded a ‘white supremacist’, I knew our universities had lost the plot In 2017, a row over free speech and “anti-white racism” at a college in America caught my eye, writes Ric Bienstock. Students were talking about concepts that I’d never heard before, such as “microaggressions” and “safe spaces”. It led my near 10-year quest to document the rise of identity politics on campuses in both the US and Britain, and a new culture that has left many academics in fear of their jobs. Continue reading ➤   ‘I’ve been cut off from my grandchildren and it’s tearing me apart’ After my eldest two children had children of their own, I prided myself on being there for them, writes Anonymous. In the past few years, since my youngest became a parent, I’ve become part of a group I never thought I’d belong to – the one in seven people in Britain who are cut off from their grandchildren. Having now been estranged from my two youngest grandchildren for the past four years, I know how it rips your heart out. Continue reading ➤   Australia outmanoeuvring China in Pacific For years, China pulled South Pacific countries under its wing, exchanging investment for diplomatic ties and military access, writes Allegra Mendelson, our Asia Correspondent. Now, Australia is building defence ties with the ocean’s tiny islands to expand influence and beat Beijing at its own game. China is not pleased with the pivot, and with tensions brewing over Taiwan, Canberra could be seeing war on its doorstep. Continue reading ➤   Joe Pasquale at the Royal Crown in Rochester ahead of 11½ Angry Men, his Edinburgh Fringe show Joe Pasquale: ‘Comedy on telly doesn’t cater for the over-60s’ Joe Pasquale is the helium-voiced comedian who became a national hero when he won I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! Now, he’s playing at the Edinburgh Fringe. He talks to Chris Bennion about family struggles, the problem with TV comedy and a near-fatal accident with a pair of moose antlers. Continue reading ➤   Seize the day What top brain experts do to protect their memory These science-backed habits have been linked to staying mentally sharp for longer Losing sharpness is a very real worry for many of us, with half of British adults saying they fear developing dementia more than any other health condition. Even so, there is plenty we can do to protect our cognitive health and give ourselves the best chance of staying “with it” well into later life. From resistance training to daily supplements, here are the tools some of the world’s most renowned brain experts rely on to keep their grey matter healthy. For subscribers only ➤ Here is another helpful article to read this morning: For even the savviest shopper, buying the right summer dress can be a bit of a gamble. Here are ten styles that are always on trend.   Inexplicable What are ‘chemtrails’ and should you believe in them? As our resident myth-buster, Sarah Knapton has seen a thing or two. Now, she’s taking on some of the world’s best-known conspiracy theories to see if they hold water. This week, she takes a closer look at chemtrails, and separates fact from fiction... Sarah Knapton Science Editor   In 1996, the US Air Force published a research paper claiming that by 2025, the United States could “own the weather”. The extraordinary document, which had chapters including “Why would we want to mess with the weather?” and “Applying weather modifications to military operations” outlined plans to generate thunderstorms, rain, fog and droughts through cloud seeding. Weather modification, the report argued, could become “a more important weapon than the atom bomb”. “The number of specific intervention methodologies is limited only by the imagination,” wrote the authors, “but with few exceptions they involve infusing either energy or chemicals into the meteorological process in the right way, at the right place and time”. It was this mention of chemicals being released into the atmosphere that set in motion the enduring conspiracy theory of chemtrails. Continue reading ➤   Your say A literary odyssey Every weekday, Orlando Bird, our loyal reader correspondent, shares an off-piste topic that has brought out the best of your opinions and stories. Orlando writes... Have you by any chance heard about this film called The Odyssey? I haven’t loved every one of Christopher Nolan’s offerings, but credit where it’s due: he has turned a 2,700-year-old (if not exactly unheard-of) epic poem into a global concern. We are living through the summer of Homer. Still, I’ve been feeling sheepish of late. Because although I might be able to pretend otherwise for about five seconds, I haven’t read The Odyssey. I haven’t read The Iliad, either. In fact, my classical knowledge is pretty pitiful in general. There, I’ve said it. I was reassured, then, to read a similar confession from Jane Shilling, who branched out into the more recent classics she hasn’t quite got round to yet (there’s no shame in failing to read Virginia Woolf).   Telegraph readers have offered up confessions of their own: “Unlike Jane Shilling I have read and enjoyed The Odyssey,” responded David Miller. “The same cannot be said for James Joyce’s Ulysses, which has defeated numerous attempts over the years. The bookmark in my Penguin copy is currently at page 194 of 931; I think this is my personal best, but it was too long ago to remember.”   Michael Oak observed, correctly: “If David finds Ulysses hard going, he had best not attempt Finnegan’s Wake. I don’t think I properly understood two consecutive sentences.”   Sara Levene, meanwhile, had a suggestion: “The Odyssey is a masterpiece of oral storytelling. It is much better enjoyed as an audiobook. There are many versions available.” Never too late. Which masterpieces are on your to-read list? Send your responses here, and the best of the bunch will feature in a future edition of this newsletter. Please confirm in your reply that you are happy to be featured and that we have your permission to use your name.   On this day 1777 | King Louis XVI of France agrees to supply the United States with munitions during the American Revolution 1863 | Alexandra Park opens in North London 1958 | First four women named to peerage in House of Lords 2019 | Boris Johnson is chosen by the Conservative Party as the new prime minister (see our front page from the following day) Birthdays: Daniel Radcliffe (37), Kathryn Hahn (53), Woody Harrelson (65) Plus, in the news today, an influencer has been labelled “mindless” after dumping a bath at the top of a mountain. Which peak did he leave it at? Tom Christopher said he ‘just wanted to do something crazy’ 1. Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) 2. Ben Nevis 3. Pen y Fan 4. Scafell Pike Click one of the options to reveal the answer...   Puzzles Find as many words as you can in today’s Panagram, including the nine-letter solution. Visit Telegraph Puzzles to play a range of head-scratching games, including The 1% Club, Cogs, and Quick, Mini or Cryptic Crosswords.   Yesterday’s Panagram was DOODLEBUG. Come back tomorrow for the solution to today’s puzzle.   Thank you for reading. Have a fulfilling day and I hope to see you tomorrow. Chris Evans, Editor P.S. I’d love to hear what you think of this newsletter. You can email me your feedback at fromtheeditor@telegraph.co.uk. Summer Sale: One year for just £19 Think outside your inbox. Unlock full access to our free-thinking journalism, plus thousands of fun puzzles. Subscribe now

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