David Blunkett says devising 99-year prison sentences is his ‘biggest regret’

Labour former home secretary says imprisonment for public protection sentences have resulted in ‘deeply damaging outcomes’

David Blunkett, the former Labour home secretary, has said devising legislation that has left people languishing in prison for minor offences is the “biggest regret” of his eight years at the heart of government.

The Labour peer, a titan of the Brown-Blair era, said that imprisonment for public protection (IPP) – known as the 99-year sentence – is the greatest blot in his copybook.