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In a shortsighted stance, the prime minister is taking a hard line on prisons, opting for punishment over rehabilitation
In the 15 years since I’ve been doing this job, my hopes that I would see a decent and humane prison system in this country in my lifetime have seldom risen above the level of “unlikely”. And a few times I have believed the state of jails in England and Wales simply could not get any worse, only to see it do so. The lowest point, until now perhaps, came during the reign of the book-banning justice secretary, Chris Grayling, from 2012-15. But even after his unlamented departure, there has been little for reformers to cheer, with ever-rising tides of self-harm, violence, overcrowding and squalor. And I can barely recall the last positive prison inspection report I have read.
There have been brief moments of hope. The last justice secretary, David Gauke, seemed to have a grasp of the basics when he proposed the abolition of short sentences – six months or less. All experienced prison watchers know that prisoners serving such short stretches seldom leave the confines of the local jails the courts send themto, which have the worst conditions in the penal estate. He intended to replace short sentences with community service orders and substance misuse programmes, both of which have significantly lower reoffending rates than short spells in prison. Continue reading...