prisoners

The government brought in rules to allow certain prisoners to be released earlier to deal with what it said was a "crisis in prison places".

Gauke told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that this autumn's crisis release of prisoners was unavoidable for the new Labour government because of "the circumstances they inherited".

"What we want to avoid is a situation where prisoners are being released as a short-term, reduce-the-pressure moment," he said.

It was not until the prisoners of war were released that they could share their accounts, and no one had thought to go back and piece the puzzles together – until now.

When authorities did not free the prisoners, he posted an image taken from high up overlooking a busy junction in the capital Tehran on X.