Prisoners cheered and punched the air as they left prison today in the second tranche of Labour's early release scheme.

Among the 650 criminals released early today will be those serving up to two and a half years for a variety of crimes, including violent offences and domestic abuse. 

At HMP Durham, one man punched the air in celebration and shouted: 'Yes cuzzie.'

Asked what he thought of the early release scheme, he replied: 'F****** belta.'

When asked if he had a message for the Prime Minister, another inmate replied: 'Scrap the recalls.'

The released prisoner explained that although he was from Sunderland, he was being sent to Bristol – where he was arrested – and had to travel there immediately or risk being recalled to prison.

Asked what the conditions were like inside HMP Durham, he said: 'Awful. It's obviously crowded, they just have to get so many people out.'

Another man, released with an electronic tag and a second device which monitors his alcohol consumption, said HMP Durham was a tough, Victorian jail, with poor food and some inmates using the drug Spice.

Under the controversial plan to ease prison overcrowding, inmates are leaving prison after serving just one-third of their sentence behind bars, rather than half.

The scheme launched at the beginning of this month with the release of 700 prisoners, all of whom were serving terms of less than 19 months.

Those serving even longer sentences will become eligible as the scheme is extended each month, with the tenth and final expansion in early June applying to those handed sentences of 12 years or more.

Figures show jails in England and Wales continue to operate at almost 98 per cent capacity despite the first wave of early releases this month. The prison population stood at 87,033 on Monday, leaving just 1,951 cells standing empty. 

The scheme is expected to free up to 50,000 prisoners a year.

But unlike Labour's previous programme, which has let out more than 70,000 offenders so far, the MoJ will not publish figures on how many actually walk free under the new programme, officials have confirmed.

Instead, the number of criminals benefitting from significant reductions to their sentences will be rolled into an existing set of statistics and cannot be separately identified.

It will leave the public and MPs in the dark about the full scale of Prime Minister Andy Burnham's soft justice bonanza.

Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy said: 'This looks like a cover-up by Labour to hide the true scale of their latest disastrous early release scheme.

'They must come clean and explain why they refuse to publish this data.

'Thousands of dangerous criminals are being freed from prison early by Labour, with some immediately beginning crime sprees and others even going on to kill.

'Only the Conservatives have a fully costed plan to build 50,000 more prison places, ending early release for good and ensuring we can put violent and serious repeat offenders behind bars.'

About 700 criminals were let loose from jails across England and Wales on October 1, the first day of the scheme, with those serving up to 19 months' imprisonment becoming eligible.

There are no overall figures on how many released prisoners have gone on to commit new crimes so far.

However, one senior Metropolitan Police officer last week warned that an offender freed under the new scheme had committed a series of new crimes with 'astonishing' speed after his release.

Prolific offender Michael Bogle, 38, admitted 11 shoplifting offences and was re-jailed.

The registered sex offender had previously been photographed walking out of HMP Wandsworth on the first day of the release scheme. Asked if he had a message for Mr Burnham, he said: 'Keep the early release going. It's good.'

Meanwhile, Greater Manchester Police said eight men had been arrested within days of being released early for offences including robbery, domestic violence and drugs.

The Conservatives have repeatedly warned the PM's programme poses an 'acute threat' to public safety.

Prisoners previously due to serve 40 or 50 per cent of the sentences handed down by the courts are now being freed after serving just 33 per cent.

As the scheme is rolled out in the coming months, criminals convicted of certain violent or sexual offences who were previously eligible for release after serving two-thirds of their sentence will instead be let out at the halfway stage.

It is a mammoth expansion of Labour's previous early release scheme, launched in September 2024 to create space in the overcrowded prison estate.

On the new scheme's first day, a succession of criminals thanked the PM for letting them out.

Outside HMP Brixton in south London, serial thief David Elliott announced he planned to immediately reoffend.

'I've got 360 convictions and an addiction to stealing,' he said.

'I'm gonna go stealing again. Whatever I get, whatever I get.'

One prisoner leaving HMP Durham said: 'Justice system, what justice system? Thank you Andy Burnham.'

Another, walking out of HMP Cardiff, was asked if he had a message for the PM and replied: 'Thank you very much and don't get me back here again, bro.'

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has announced plans to build 50,000 new jail places if her party wins the next General Election, increasing the size of the prison estate by more than 50 per cent.

MoJ documents showed Labour's scheme will be a 'new permanent approach' and that, after the first day of releases in each group, the early releases will 'continue on a business-as-usual basis'.

It added: 'For context, approximately 4,500 offenders are released from custody in a typical month.'

The majority of those criminals will benefit from the new early release terms, brought into law by the Sentencing Act earlier this year.

The Government has refused to disclose how many prisoners are projected to be let out early in total.

However, Labour's first attempt at an early release scheme was leading to between 3,000 and 4,000 early releases every month.

The new programme is wider in scope, with some serious violent offenders becoming eligible for the first time.

It is likely to see about 50,000 offenders a year freed early, once excluded groups are taken into account.

Life-sentenced prisoners, such as murderers, and those serving extended sentences are ineligible.

Other categories of violent and sexual criminals are also excluded after public outcry led to a series of U-turns by Mr Burnham over the summer.

An MoJ spokesman said: 'We inherited a prison system on the brink of collapse.

'If we had failed to act the police would have been forced to halt arrests, putting communities at untold risk.

'Our changes are part of a long-term overhaul of sentencing, ending the crisis in our prisons and keeping dangerous offenders behind bars.

'The Sentencing Act follows an independent review and was fully scrutinised by Parliament.'