The prison population in England and Wales has reached a record high. The total number of prisoners hit 85,578 on Friday, above the previous record of 85,495 set in October last year and just under 2,500 short of the usable operational capacity of 88,073, Ministry of Justice figures showed. Criminal justice campaigners have called on the government to reduce the number of people behind bars. But last month David Cameron scrapped justice secretary Kenneth Clarke's "too lenient" plans to let offenders who plead guilty out of jail early. Clarke had proposed increasing the discount for early guilty pleas. from one third to a half in a bid to encourage more offenders to admit their crimes but was forced into a U-turn after the plans came under fire.
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