For most of the time that Straffen was in prison, the Home Secretary had to agree to the release of any life sentence prisoner; no occupant of the office was ever willing to let Straffen out. In 1994, Michael Howard decided to compile a select list of about twenty prisoners serving life sentences who must never be released, and Straffen's name was said to be on it. The whole list was published by the "News of the World" in December 1997; this report confirmed that Straffen would spend the rest of his life in prison.