Estonia's Justice Minister Liisa Pakosta has told the BBC her country would not rent jail cells to the United Kingdom, saying any such proposal would deserve to be 'rejected outright', as the UK government and opposition parties consider overseas prison capacity to address overcrowding in England and Wales.
Estonia rules out renting prison cells to UK amid British jail overcrowding debate
Estonia's Justice Minister Liisa Pakosta has told the BBC her country would not rent jail cells to the United Kingdom, saying any such proposal would deserve to be 'rejected outright', as the UK government and opposition parties consider overseas prison capacity to address overcrowding in England and Wales.
Pakosta said Estonia had received no formal proposal from the UK to rent prison space, but stated that if one were made, 'our answer would be unequivocal - in Margaret Thatcher's famous words: No. No. No.' She was referencing a 1990 speech in which Thatcher repeated the word three times to reject deeper European Community integration.
Estonia signed a deal last week to house up to 600 Swedish offenders at its half-empty Tartu prison. Under that agreement, Sweden would pay up to £52 million a year, with an additional £7,254 per prisoner per month from the 301st inmate onwards.
The UK's Labour government, when Sir Keir Starmer was prime minister, held talks with Estonia in 2024 to discuss the possibility of housing British prisoners there. Those talks came to nothing. Pakosta previously told the BBC she had met then-UK Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood in Lithuania.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham's government is planning to release thousands of prisoners early this October as jails approach full capacity. On Monday, Downing Street did not rule out renting space in foreign prisons but said the government was focused on creating extra capacity domestically. A No 10 spokesperson described renting foreign prison space as 'just not a quick fix,' noting it would require primary legislation and a complex international agreement that could take several years.
Burnham has ordered the justice secretary to produce a plan for creating more prison space by September, based on removing more foreign national offenders, releasing some offenders on indefinite sentences, and using space in women's jails for male inmates.
Reform UK, at a news conference on Monday, suggested 10,000 prison spaces could be freed if all foreign criminals were sent abroad. Party leader Nigel Farage said Reform was exploring transfers to countries including El Salvador, Kosovo, and potentially Baltic states such as Lithuania or Estonia. A Reform UK spokesman said the policy was focused on El Salvador, Kosovo, and 'possibly others if they are open to the idea.'
The Conservatives have urged Burnham to revive a policy they introduced in 2023 to rent prison cells overseas, modelled on arrangements used by Norway and Belgium in the Netherlands. Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp called Labour's decision not to pursue the policy 'a catastrophic mistake' that should be 'urgently reversed.' The Conservatives did not respond to requests for comment on Estonia's rejection.
Lithuania's Ministry of Justice said there had been 'no discussions or consultations' regarding accepting transfers of Lithuanian citizens imprisoned in the UK, and that it did not 'see any scope for entering into practical arrangements of this kind.'
Kosovo, which has agreed to lease 300 jail cells to Denmark in a deal worth £170 million, indicated openness to working with other countries on prisoner transfers in principle, but said it would focus on completing the Denmark deal 'before entering into any new agreement of a similar nature.'
The average annual cost per prisoner in a public-sector prison in England and Wales was £60,018 in 2024/25, according to Ministry of Justice data. The BBC has previously reported that both former Conservative and Labour ministers independently concluded that renting prison space abroad would be expensive.
- The source does not specify the current total prisoner population or exact capacity figures for jails in England and Wales.
- The source does not detail the legal framework or legislation the UK would need to pass to enable overseas prisoner transfers.
- The source does not provide Estonia's position on why it is willing to house Swedish but not British prisoners beyond the general statement that it would not rent cells to other countries.
- The source does not include comment from the current UK Justice Secretary on the foreign prison option specifically.
- The source does not indicate whether El Salvador has been formally approached or has responded to Reform UK's suggestion.