Wes Streeting apologises after hot mic catches awkward comments on early prisoner release

The remarks came from a video shared by political news outlet Guido Fawkes, showing new Justice Secretary Alex Norris approaching Streeting and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

In the footage, Streeting appears to joke that Norris is “the enemy now”, prompting Mahmood to reply that he is not. 

Streeting then says that Norris “wants to let them all out”, which was interpreted as a reference to the government's plans to release some prisoners early.

The comments sparked backlash online, with critics accusing Streeting of making light of a serious issue. 

However, Streeting later apologised and said the exchange was not meant to carry any negative message.

In a statement shared on X, he explained that his comment was a light-hearted reference to a long-running political joke involving former Justice Secretary Ken Clarke and Theresa May.

The joke dates back to 2017, when May joked about Clarke’s approach to justice policy, saying: “When I was home secretary, I used to say ‘I locked 'em up and he let 'em out’.”

I hope everyone can see there was no ill intent behind this ribbing of the new Justice Secretary - it was a reference to an old May/Clarke joke.

But I appreciate these are very serious issues and am sorry for any offence inadvertently caused by this moment of levity. https://t.co/VjD0PSsGr8

— Wes Streeting (@wesstreeting) July 21, 2026

He wrote that there was “no ill intent” behind the remark and apologised to anyone who was offended by what he described as a brief “moment of levity”. 

Streeting also stressed that the issue of early prisoner releases remains a serious matter.