Prisoners in the United Kingdom may serve their sentences in Estonia as the Labour government looks for measures to alleviate chronic overcrowding.The Ministry of Justice and its Estonian equivalent are investigating "potential partnerships" after Tallinn offered to rent out spare prison capacity to other countries. Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and her Estonian counterpart, Liisa Pakosta, were scheduled to discuss the alternatives on Thursday at a Council of Europe gathering in Vilnius, Lithuania.Ms. Pakosta noted: "The UK and Estonia have a history of successful international cooperation, and such a partnership would create further opportunities to benefit and learn from each other." The Estonian cabinet must first consider and approve the plan in parliament before it can move forward.

Government sources have confirmed that the option is being seriously considered due to the dire situation the Labour government inherited from the previous Conservative leadership.Border security minister Dame Angela Eagle on Friday said the government was “considering all sorts of actions to deal with the crisis we have been left by the previous government in prisons and the criminal justice system”.

She told Sky News: “We have inherited an absolute crisis in our prison system with very few places remaining there.

“The last government closed loads of prison places and didn’t replace any of them. Colleagues in the Ministry of Justice will be considering anything they can to alleviate the problem.

“What we cannot have is people who were convicted of violent and serious crimes not being able to be in jail.”

Men’s prisons in England and Wales nearly ran out of cells last month, with just 83 spare spaces left. Pressures were increased due to prison sentences given to convicts who took part in the recent nationwide unrest.

The total UK prison population is projected to rise from approximately 89,000 to between 93,100 and 106,300 by March 2027.

The proposal to send prisoners to Estonia was initially floated by former justice secretary Alex Chalk at the Tory conference last year, though it was dismissed at the time as potentially too expensive.

Although criticised by Labour as a symbol of Tory mismanagement, the idea is now being reconsidered by Labour officials, despite concerns over potential costs.

Norway and Belgium have previously rented prison space from the Netherlands, where the state spends nearly £100,000 per prisoner, but Estonia is believed to spend between just £10,000 and £20,000 per prisoner.