A Fetid Legacy From The Tories.

[sandyRoe]

The Tories clearly neglected their duty to the prison service while they were in office.

Prisons are bursting at the seams and there's talk of early releases of some inmates so that others can be accommodated.

A departing Labour Cabinet Minister once left a note for his successor saying: There's no money left.

That wasn't much compared to the prison mess the new government faces.  

What's to be done?

[ToraToraTora]

Build some more but basic simple structures not the £600k per cell someone said it cost on the news. Just knock up a few stalags and lob them in there.

[Gromit]

Short term: More releases, shorter sentences.

Long term: More preventative measures. 

[Gromit]

Mr Timpson will sort it out. 

[Untitled]

this is what happens when you don't invest in public services. rather difficult to "lock em up" when you haven't built enough prisons. 
 

a prime example of conservative stupidity and cruelty. 

[Deskdiary]

"A prime example of Conservative stupidity and cruelty"

 

Fine, I don't get your point, but fine.

 

So what are Labour going to do? Are they going to suddenly build more prisons? Or is that they'll simply let people out earlier than their already early releases and there'll be less jailed, and hey presto we've solved the overcrowding crisis.

[Untitled]

prisons can't "suddenly" be built so their options are limited. it's the kind of thing that requires long term planning and investment.

[newmodarmy]

What is the lead time needed untitled? Surely we should be seeing the benefit of the New Labour long term planning and investment between 1997 and 2010. There's been a shortage of prison places for as long as I can remember.

[Deskdiary]

Forgot this site was filled with pedantry.

 

OK...are Labour going to announce they'll build a load prisons?

[fender62]

over population cannot meet demand, same with the nhs and schools and other public services, only going to get worse.

[sandyRoe]

Building new prisons would only be a partial answer.  Where are the prison staff coming from?  Recruitment wouldn't be easy and then there's the training period.

[Togo]

The policy is   ...   let all the illegal immigrants, in and all the violent criminals out. Stay safe out there. Your protection and security is your own responsibility henceforth.

[New Judge]

“Long term: More preventative measures.”

Such as? How do you prevent criminals from committing crimes?

“So what are Labour going to do? Are they going to suddenly build more prisons? Or is that they'll simply let people out earlier than their already early releases…”

The latter. They have already announced that release at the halfway stage will be changed to release at the 40% stage:

 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c047dkjgpxyo

The headline is misleading. It should not read “Prisoners to be released early to ease overcrowding.” Instead it should read “Prisoners to be released even earlier to ease overcrowding."
 

[Deskdiary]

19.29pm - Indeed.

 

So what's the answer?

 

I still don't get the "...stupidity and cruel" comment, but I suspect Labour will release early (I think I heard, but could be wrong, that a proposal was releasing once 40% of the sentence had been served) and jailing less people. But is that really a solution? I don't think it is.

[Togo]

Perhaps instead of sentencing criminals to a prison term the ex dpp will award them an all expenses long holiday in    ...   Rwanda?  Makes sense to me, a sort of win win.  

[DTCwordfan]

cheaper - put them on the Weymouth barge - with machine gun  posts at the ready - or expedite them to you, sandy, as to incarceration in what was the Maze.....

 

[Deskdiary]

Labour's stance on Rwanda is a bit odd. They're not adverse to a third party country, according to Yvette Cooper, just not Rwanda. So which country would be acceptable? The fundamental idea is the same. So, this must simply be because Rwanda was a Tory policy. 

[sandyRoe]

Crumlin Rs prison in Belfast has been mouldering unused for some years.  And there are thousands of redundant prison officers who would jump at the chance to get back into uniform.

The authorities just need to think outside the box.

[DTCwordfan]

I believe it's sending them back to their country of origin - the only problem in this being the international court of human rights.....

[Deskdiary]

Also, why is this a "Fetid legacy from the Tories"?

 

The darling paper of the left was reporting this problem in 2005. 
Hadn't Labour been in charge for 8 years at that point?

https://amp.theguardian.com/uk/2005/oct/23/ukcrime.prisonsandprobation1

[Old_Geezer]

Pay another country to bang them up.