TWENTY more prisons would be built in five years by a Conservative government to meet its promise to lock up more criminals.

At least three new prisons would be needed to meet plans unveiled yesterday to scrap early-release schemes.

Michael Howard, the Conservative leader, also said that he wanted judges to announce minimum and maximum sentences so that prisoners knew when they could be released if they behaved.

Pushers of hard drugs and burglars caught for a third time would face mandatory sentences of seven and three years respectively, he said.

Mr Howard went to the constituencies of Tony Blair and Alan Milburn, Labour’s election supremo, to launch his sentencing plans in a deliberate move to take the fight to Labour. But the plans were attacked by Labour on ground of cost, and by the Liberal Democrats for pandering to a right-wing agenda rather than trying to rehabilitate criminals.

Paul Cavadino, chief executive of the crime reduction charity Nacro, said: “The proposals are based on the misconception that you are not serving a sentence unless you are behind bars. It ignores the fact that when offenders are released, they are under supervision and restrictions and that is also part of the sentence.”

Mr Howard said he wanted to target hard-core criminals. “If they are in prison, they cannot commit more crime against the public,” he said. “Build more prisons and fewer criminals will be free to commit crime. It is common sense.”

At present 3,100 prisoners are out early from prison under the home detention curfew scheme, which the Tories would scrap. A total of 90,000 have been released this way. Eight per cent of them have re-offended while out early, committing a total of 3,600 crimes.

Frances Crook, of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “There would still be early release because there will be a new minimum sentence system. This just seems like repackaging what we have at the moment but couched in more punitive rhetoric.”

Mark Oaten, the Lib Dem home affairs spokesman, said: “With over half of prisoners reoffending, creating even more prisoners will just create more criminals. The real tough policy is to tackle the causes of reoffending rather than pandering to a right-wing agenda.”

George Foulkes, a former Labour minister, accused the Tories of hypocrisy after Liam Fox, their co-chairman, indicated on Sunday that the Conservatives would consider allowing Lord Archer of Westonsuper-Mare back into the party after his spell in jail for perjury.

“If the Tories were serious about what they say about jail, they would have spent their time demanding Jeffrey Archer went back,” Mr Foulkes said.

Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers, said: “To imply that Labour is soft on crime is extraordinary.

“They have created over 700 new criminal offences since coming to power, presided over record prison numbers and are now dismantling the Probation Service to replace it with a US-style corrections agency. Under the Tories’ plans, they would require scores more jails, involving a huge hike in taxation.”

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