'Where Is He?': Pressure Mounts On David Lammy Over Prisoner Release Row

David Lammy arrives for a Cabinet meeting in September.David Lammy has been criticised for dodging a round of TV and radio interviews as pressure mounts over the prisoner release row.The justice secretary came under fire for refusing to confirm five times at prime minister’s questions that Algerian man Brahim Kaddour-Cherif had been mistakenly let out of Wandsworth Prison.It came just days after migrant sex offender, Hadush Kebatu, sparked a huge manhunt after he was also accidentally freed.In a statement issued on Wednesday night, the Ministry of Justice insisted “facts were still emerging” about Kaddour-Cherif’s release when PMQs began.A spokesperson said: “The deputy prime minister was asked questions about the release of an asylum seeker. As was confirmed after PMQs by the Home Office, the individual was not an asylum seeker.“The deputy prime minister waited until after PMQs and further facts had emerged before making a statement.”Victims minister Alex Davies-Jones was sent out by the government to answer questions from the media this morning.On Radio 4′s Today programme, presenter Emma Barnet demanded to know why Lammy was not fronting up instead.“Where is he?” she asked.Davies-Jones said: “He’s at a prison doing his day job. He’s breaking ground. Building new prison places, getting on with the job, and he will be speaking to the media later on this morning.”But Barnet told her: “It’s 8.21. You’ve been on a media round since 7 o’clock this morning. You don’t usually go to a prison before 9 o’clock. Don’t you think he should be here answering these questions?”The minister replied: “He will be answering questions later today, but he’s getting on with the job. This is a long-standing engagement of breaking that ground, building new prison places that we desperately need.”Lammy has also been criticised after he told MPs he had gone shopping before PMQs.He said he “bought a new suit this morning because my godmother said she would be watching” him deputising for Keir Starmer, who is at a climate conference in Brazil.One senior Labour source told HuffPost UK: “Why the fuck was he buying a suit and not sorting this mess out ahead of PMQs?”A source close to Lammy said he had meant to say he had bought a suit for PMQs, and had not actually been shopping for it on Wednesday morning.Another Labour insider said: “People have seemed to miss that Lammy called Dame Lynne Owens, who is doing the review in to prison releases in error, Dame Ann Owens at PMQs, such is his focus on the issue. He’s lazy, stupid and entitled.”Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick accused Lammy of “a total dereliction of duty”.Related...'A Shambles Of A Government': David Lammy Under Fire After Another Prisoner Accidentally ReleasedRobert Jenrick Rapped By Kate Garraway For Saying 'B******t' On Good Morning BritainDavid Lammy Says Reform UK MP's 'Racist' Take On TV Ads 'Belong In The Dark Ages'

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