Number 10 has insisted that Sir Keir Starmer has "full confidence" in David Lammy.

It follows the deputy PM and justice secretary standing in for the PM at deputy prime minister's questions (DPMQs), where he refused to answer a question five times, telling the Tory opposite to "get a grip".

Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge asked Lammy five times if any other "asylum seeker offenders" had been wrongly released, following convicted sex offender Hadush Kebatu being mistakenly let out of prison last month.

Lammy didn't answer the question, instead attacking the Conservatives' record in government on prisons.

"I have not witnessed a more shameful spectacle, frankly, for what the party opposite left in our justice system. Their criminal negligence on his watch," he said. 

But seconds after PMQs ended, it was confirmed that a second foreign offender has indeed been released mistakenly - and has actually been on the run for a week.

Speaking to journalists following DPMQs, a spokesperson for Number 10 insisted that Starmer has "full confidence" in Lammy for his performance, and declined to give him a mark out of 10.

"I'm here to answer Questions and not give appraisals", the spokeserson said. 

"The deputy PM stepped in today and answered questions and the PM is grateful to him for his work."

The spokesperson also refused to say if Lammy knew about the wrongly released prisoner before PMQs, and repeateldy pointed journalists to the Ministry of Justice and the Metropolitan Police, who were informed by the Prison Service that the man is missing.

They said the prime minister is being "kept updated".

Deputy PMQs has been completely dominated by the news that a second foreign national offender is on the run, having been mistakenly released by prison. 

It follows the wrongful release of convicted sex offender Hadush Kebatu, an Ethiopian national who came to the UK illegally before sexually assaulting a child, for which he was jailed. 

His mistaken release led to a three-day manhunt. He has since been recaptured and deported.

Today, the Conservatives, headed up by Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge, asked David Lammy (standing in for Sir Keir Starmer) about whether this was the case five times.

Each time, the deputy PM avoided answering the question, blaming the Tories for the overcrowding in prisons, which has led to numerous mistaken releases in England and Wales.

He also said he did not want to prejudice an independent investigation by ex-senior police officer Dame Lynne Owens.

Lammy then grew angry, telling Cartlidge to "geta grip, man" - but still not answering the question.

But what was the timeline of events leading up to this blockbuster match between these two stand-ins?

The timeline:

• 29th October 2025 - 24-year-old Algerian man serving time for trespass with an intent to steal accidentally released from HMP Wandsworth in error
• 1pm, 4 November 2025 - The Prison Service informs the Metropolitan Police that the man has been released in error
• 5 November 2025 - Paste BN learns of escaped foreign offender, the second following the wrongful release of Kebatu
• 12pm, 5 November 2025 - Cartlidge asks Lammy five times if any other "foreign asylum seeker offenders" have been mistakenly released - Lammy declines to answer
• 12.35pm, 5 November 2025 - News breaks of the prisoner being on the run and Cartlidge raises the reports in the Commons, but Lammy is blocked from answering

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has now spoken out following the revelation that a second foreign offender has been wrongly released and is now on the run. 

It's something that was put to the deputy PM, David Lammy, by the shadow defence secretary at DPMQs, but which he refused to answer.

Badenoch said: "James Cartlidge asked the Deputy PM FIVE times to tell us if ANOTHER migrant sex offender had been accidentally released from prison. 

"Instead of answering, Lammy lost his temper. 

"Now we read it HAS happened again & he's been on the run for a week. This is a shambles of a government."

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick added: "This is another shambles under Calamity Lammy’s watch. 

"Accidental releases of prisoners have more than doubled under this government, and David Lammy doesn't have a clue what's going on. 

"The British people are being put in danger time and again due to the government's sheer incompetence."

James Cartlidge has used a point of order to point out reports that a second foreign national offender is on the run after being wrongly released from prison. 

It follows the shadow defence secretary asking the deputy PM five times during PMQs whether this was the case - and David Lammy refused to answer the question.

Although DPMQs has now ended, Cartlidge uses a parliamentary procedure to ask Lammy in the Commons about it.

He asks about "reporting that a police manhunt has been launched for a second asylum seeker mistakenly freed from prison".

"The question is Mr Speaker, how can you advise me on how I can ask justice secretary whether he was aware of this when I asked him about it repeatedly in prime minister's questions?"

But Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker, declines to let Lammy respond as PMQs is now over. 

"You put it on the record," Hoyle says. "Let's just move on. Benches change over."

By Tom Parmenter, national correspondent

Another foreign prisoner is on the run after being mistakenly released from prison, Paste BN can reveal.

The error at HMP Wandsworth in south London happened on the 29th October - just five days after the high profile release of convicted paedophile Hadush Kebatu from HMP Chelmsford.

The Met Police confirmed to Paste BN: "Shortly after 13:00hrs on Tuesday, 4 November, the Met was informed by the Prison Service that a prisoner had been released in error from HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday, 29 October.

"The prisoner is a 24-year-old Algerian man.

"Officers are carrying out urgent enquiries in an effort to locate him and return him to custody."

Paste BN understands the Algerian prisoner was serving time for trespass with an intent to steal but has previously committed sexual offences.

It is not yet clear why it was nearly a week between the latest release at Wandsworth and the police being informed that an offender was at large.

The numbers of these types of errors has risen recently, with 262 instances between March 2024 and March 2025. 

In the aftermath of the Hadush Kebatu manhunt, the Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary, David Lammy MP, promised "the strongest release checks that have ever been in place."

He also ordered an independent investigation into the Kebatu release, which is being led by former Deputy Commissioner of the Met Police Dame Lynne Owens.

The Conservatives described the Kebatu episode as a "national embarrassment."

The Ministry of Justice has been contacted for comment about the latest incident at HMP Wandsworth.

One of the stories dominating proceedings today is the recent knife attack on a train in Huntingdon.

The train driver, Andrew Johnson, spoke to ITV News earlier this week, telling them, "I was only doing my job," when asked about saving lives on board.

Charlotte Nichols, MP for Warrington North, asks David Lammy about recognising the importance of rail crews in all the work in light of Johnson's actions.

The deputy PM pays tribute to the actions of Johnson.

He says:

"The actions of the driver, Andrew Johnson, and the train staff members, this is nothing less than heroic, and I'm sure that the whole House would agree that some form of recognition is absolutely deserved."

Lammy adds that the government is fighting for such frontline workers.

 David Lammy has said comments by Reform UK's only female MP were "disgraceful, racist language... which belongs in the Dark Ages".

The deputy PM is asked about Reform UK's performance at Kent County Council by Tristan Osborne, who asks Lammy if he agrees that the county "deserves so much better".

He responds: "Reform said that Kent County Council would be the best advocate for what a Reform government would look like. 

"They're delivering on the chaos that they promised and on standards in public life."

He then turns to comments made by Sarah Pochin last week, where she said "adverts full of black people, Asian people" drive her mad. 

She has since apologised for her comments, while party leader Nigel Farage called them "ugly".

But Lammy goes much further.

He says: "The disgraceful, racist language that we heard from a report reform MP last week belongs in the Dark ages and she should be ashamed."

Pochin shakes her head in disapproval as Lammy lambasts her.

Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper, in her second question, asks David Lammy which he thinks is fairer: "Taxing struggling families, or taxing big banks?"

The deputy PM, as a fair few government voices have said recently, says he can't pre-empt the chancellor ahead of her budget.

Instead, Lammy says that it was "under her government, in which they were in coalition with the Conservatives, that we saw austerity right across our country."

The Labour deputy PM says other major parties were proposing austerity again.

"I know that the chancellor will do everything she can to continue as she set out... to invest in our NHS and our public services," Lammy tells the house.

Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge, for his fifth question, sticks to his guns asking again about Kebatu, the now deported sexual offener.

Cartlidge asks again:

"Can he reassure the House that since Kebatu was released no other asylum-seeking offender has been accidentally let out of prison? Can you answer the question, deputy Prime Minister?"

In response, the deputy PM again goes on the offensive, calling into question the Conservatives' own time in government.

Lammy tells the House: "I've got to tell you, I spent 14 years in opposite and I did a hell of a lot better than he's just done. I have answered the question. Under their watch, prisons were in a mess."

Cartlidge repeats the question again for his sixth question and Lammy again uses the opportunity to talk up what he claims Labour has done for law and order in the UK.

The deputy PM accuses the Tories of leaving the prison system "on the brink of collapse, threatening to allow offenders to run wild on our streets".

James Cartlidge now asks David Lammy whether "no other asylum seeker offender has been accidentally let out of prison" since convicted sex offender Hadush Kebatu was accidentally released from prison.

The Ethiopian national was released by accident last month, leading to a three-day manhunt.

Kebatu has since been deported.

The deputy PM hits back at the Conservative MP, saying that since this embarrassing incident, he has "put in place the toughest checks we've ever had in the prison system". 

Lammy then says it is "important that Lynne Owens is able to get to the bottom of her work", citing the former police officer leading an independent investigation into the wrongful release. 

He adds: "I suspect there will be more checks and balances we need to do.

"What we inherited was a complicated system that they set up, letting people out on the sly. 

"That's part of the problem. We're trying to fix it."

Lammy tells Cartlidge to 'get a grip, man'

But the shadow defence secretary uses his fourth question to ask the same question.

Cartlidge says: "He's the justice secretary. He's responsible for the justice system. He needs to take responsibility. And I'm asking him a straight question.

"Can he reassure the House that since Kebatu was released, no other asylum seeking offender has been accidentally let out of prison? It's a clear question. 

"Can he give an answer?"

An agitated Lammy responds: "Get a grip, man! I know I'm the justice secretary. That's why I'm at the despatch box. Also as deputy prime minister."

He then insists he won't prejudice Dame Lynne Owens's investigation.

Lammy continues: "It is for her to get to the box with that work. 

"Of course, we know that there have been spikes since 2021 under his watch. When did he come to this house and apologise?"

Cartlidge does not apologise in his next question.