We need more prisons
Matthew d'Ancona 11:09am
The review on penal policy by Lord Carter of Coles is unbelievably depressing, giving, as it does, further respectability to the idea that sentencing should be driven by the supply of prison places rather than the demand created by the courts and successful prosecutions. This orthodoxy within the criminal justice system has twin roots in the liberal social science which has infected Home Office thinking since Roy Jenkins and Reggie Maudling and the pressure from the Treasury to keep down the costs of the prison system. Governments, on the whole, want to be remembered for building hospitals not prisons. But the simple, bleak but unavoidable truth is that we need more jail capacity in this country – and fast. John Reid grasped this fully when he was Home Secretary, but I am not sure Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary who will respond to the report, is as sound on the matter. This Sunday Telegraph column I wrote last year sets out the depressing background
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Comments
Dafydd
December 5th, 2007 11:26amI'm inclined to say that we need fewer criminals. Not a question, however, that ever gets rigorous attention. The best we get is an occasional airing of liberal vs hardline prejudices.
Mike
December 5th, 2007 11:38amYes we do need fewer criminals but how? Addressing the culture of criminality caused by massive joblessness (5.4Million people of working age not working and living on benefits) is a good start. Reducing the size of the gargantuan welfare state to reward work and thrift and not pay people to do nothing would be another action. Both are things that our political elite (even though Cameron is making encouraging noises) will simply not contemplate as their first priority is their re-election. Very, very depressing
John Fisher
December 5th, 2007 7:57pmIsn't prison a liberal idea (Bentham et al.) anyway? Not something a good Tory should be inclined to support?
Frank Leader
December 8th, 2007 7:42amCrime is falling, it must be if Gordon Brown says so. He is such an honest and truthful person. So it must also be true when he stated that the Conservatives left the economy in a mess for Labour to inherit. He made no mention of the 5 years of continued ecomonic growth, which when added to the 10 years he claims equals the 61 quarters he keeps boasting about.