UK to Use Police Stations as Prisons under Emergency Measure

Police officers are seen in London, Britain, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police officers are seen in London, Britain, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
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UK to Use Police Stations as Prisons under Emergency Measure

Police officers are seen in London, Britain, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police officers are seen in London, Britain, November 27, 2024. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy

Police cells will temporarily be used to hold prisoners in a stop-gap measure to cope with overcrowding in jails, the British government said on Tuesday.

The emergency action, dubbed "Operation Safeguard", allows inmates to be held in police cells when prisons are full, and was previously used from February 2023 to October last year, Reuters said.

The prison population in England and Wales has doubled in the last 30 years, according to official data, leading to overcrowding as new places have failed to keep pace with demand. Justice systems in Scotland and Northern Ireland are run separately.

In a statement to parliament, Shabana Mahmood said the prison system was operating at more than 99% occupancy.

January saw the highest average monthly prison population growth in almost two years, as part of a rising trend in the last three months that "has only just begun to slow", she added.

"Given the recent increase in demand, it is necessary, and prudent, for me to temporarily reactivate Operation Safeguard to better manage the flow of offenders into the prison estate," Mahmood said.

According to the World Prison Brief database, imprisonment rates in England and Wales are higher than in other major European countries, with 141 detainees per 100,000 population, against 120 in France, 117 in Spain, 105 in Italy and 68 in Germany.



IAEA Pulls Inspectors from Iran as Standoff over Access Drags on

FILE PHOTO: nternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi waits for an emergency meeting of the agency’s Board of Governors to discuss the situation in Iran following the US attacks on the country’s nuclear facilities, at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: nternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi waits for an emergency meeting of the agency’s Board of Governors to discuss the situation in Iran following the US attacks on the country’s nuclear facilities, at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo
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IAEA Pulls Inspectors from Iran as Standoff over Access Drags on

FILE PHOTO: nternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi waits for an emergency meeting of the agency’s Board of Governors to discuss the situation in Iran following the US attacks on the country’s nuclear facilities, at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: nternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi waits for an emergency meeting of the agency’s Board of Governors to discuss the situation in Iran following the US attacks on the country’s nuclear facilities, at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo

The UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff over their return to the country's nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel deepens.

Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran's nuclear sites in a 12-day war three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency's inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran's facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that is his top priority.

Iran's parliament has now passed a law to suspend cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency's inspectors will be able to return to Iran.

"An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the Agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict," the IAEA said on X.

According to Reuters, diplomats said the number of IAEA inspectors in Iran was reduced to a handful after the June 13 start of the war. Some have also expressed concern about the inspectors' safety since the end of the conflict, given fierce criticism of the agency by Iranian officials and Iranian media.

Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said he stands by the report. He has denied it provided diplomatic cover for military action.

IAEA WANTS TALKS

Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday Iran remained committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

"(Grossi) reiterated the crucial importance of the IAEA discussing with Iran modalities for resuming its indispensable monitoring and verification activities in Iran as soon as possible," the IAEA said.

The US and Israeli military strikes either destroyed or badly damaged Iran's three uranium enrichment sites. But it was less clear what has happened to much of Iran's nine tons of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kg enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from weapons grade.

That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful but Western powers say there is no civil justification for enriching to such a high level, and the IAEA says no country has done so without developing the atom bomb.

As a party to the NPT, Iran must account for its enriched uranium, which normally is closely monitored by the IAEA, the body that enforces the NPT and verifies countries' declarations. But the bombing of Iran's facilities has now muddied the waters.

"We cannot afford that .... the inspection regime is interrupted," Grossi told a press conference in Vienna last week.