Russell Findlay has described the SNP’s latest prisoner early-release plan as a “shameful surrender to criminals” and “a hammer blow to victims”.
The Scottish Conservative leader also accused ministers of “sneaking out” the proposals on the last day of parliament before the summer recess.
Under the plans announced on Thursday, long-term prisoners would be eligible for parole sooner, while the definition of short-term prisoners – who serve just 30 per cent of their sentence – would be rewritten to include those serving up to five years, rather than the current four.
In addition, the presumption against short-term sentences would be raised from one year to two.
It is the latest extension of an SNP plan to tackle the prison population crisis, with promised new jails in Glasgow and the Highlands years behind schedule and massively over budget.
Since June 2024, more than 1,400 inmates have been released early from Scottish prisons.
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said: “This shameful surrender to criminals was sneaked out on the last day of parliament and was certainly not in the SNP’s election manifesto.
“John Swinney now thinks he can ramp up his government’s deliberate process of weakening Scotland’s criminal justice system.
“The slashing of jail sentences by Swinney’s soft-touch justice secretary will be a hammer blow to crime victims while brave police officers will despair.
“For years, SNP ministers have used crowded prisons to impose increasingly dishonest and weak sentencing policies.
“But this is a problem entirely of their making as they’re responsible for failing to provide the necessary prison spaces.
“Law-abiding Scots will find it astonishing that one of the first criminals who might benefit from this latest outbreak of SNP soft sentencing is Peter Murrell.
“There is another way. Swinney should adopt our policy of using overseas prisons to ensure criminals serve the sentence imposed on them by the independent judiciary.”
Notes to editors
Since June 2024, more than 1,400 prisoners have been freed early in three waves of emergency releases. In addition, the automatic release point for some short-term prisoners has been reduced from 50 per cent to 30 per cent. (BBC News, 25 June 2026, link).