David Blunkett acknowledged last week that it was the “biggest regret” of his political life. As home secretary under Tony Blair in 2001, Blunkett was the architect of the “imprisonment for public protection” scheme, or IPP.

Under the IPP system, offenders were given a sentence (or “tariff”) proportionate to the offence committed. Once that sentence was completed, the offender was not released but remained imprisoned for as long as the Parole Board deemed them a “risk to society”. And when finally released, they remained on licence, meaning they could be recalled to prison at any time for minor breaches of regulation, or even because, as MPs discovered, of a “lack of… suitable accommodation”.

In 2006, Martin Myers threatened a man as he tried to cadge a cigarette. He was given an IPP sentence with a tariff of 19 months and 27 days. Eighteen years later, he is still in prison. Last October, he was finally released, but recalled to prison 10 weeks later – for taking Valium to ease anxiety. “I couldn’t believe it,” wrote Simon Hattenstone, the Guardian journalist who told his story. “But it was true.” It is the sheer arbitrary viciousness of the IPP regime that takes one aback.

In 2007, Wayne Bell was given an IPP sentence for punching a man and stealing his bike. He is still in prison. As is Aaron Graham, who in 2005 was given an IPP sentence with a tariff of two years and 124 days. Almost 20 years later, he is the longest serving IPP prisoner.

According to the campaigning organisation United Group for Reform of IPP (UNGRIPP), 287 people who received an IPP sentence have died in prison, 90 having taken their own life. IPP prisoners are almost three times as likely to........

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