To think prison reform wasn't the top of most voters agenda?

[malificent7]

I get it is important due to overcrowding but I'm a bit surprised this is one of the first topics in the headlines.
I am all for youth hubs to target knife crime....excellent idea but releasing lots of prisoners who apparently shouldn't be there will give Reform lots of ammunition what do you think?

I think this is great.

It sends a signal that the government is approaching problems according to need, rather than chasing approval ratings by doing things they believe to be popular. It's like the opposite of virtue signalling. It's actual government.

Given the right set of circumstances, any one of us could end up in prison, or have a family member end up there. I'd rather they weren't dangerous rat infested stab holes, thanks.

we’ve under resourced over stretched police
weve under resourced over crowded prisons with not enough staff
weve a court system that is as broken as the nhs, a backlog of years. Rape victims waiting years to relive the crime in court to see justice. Court cases cancelled at the last minute leading to cases being dropped as victims can’t face it.

It was refreshing common sense to solve the prison problem which was a huge issue pushed under the radar getting little press.

the prime minister is absolutely spot on, if you intervene early you stop knife crime, you turn young people into active members of society who pay tax instead of cost tax.
crime costs the nation billions in all sorts of ways. It’s very short sighted just to lock them up.

in one fail swoop this starts to solve those issues.

A mandate isn’t about the % of votes, it’s the amount of seats. They do have a huge mandate. Your generalisation isn’t correct either. My friends and colleagues who are professionals and hard working all voted Labour. If a “grown up” creates a cost of living crisis, shamelessly plugs Brexit as a positive by lying to the masses, breaks public services, doesn’t care about the most vulnerable in society, creates Covid cover ups and puts their political careers before the country. ThenI, for one, would be pleased to not have “grown ups” in charge.

It's because the prison service is literally about to collapse. It's a case of dealing with the most urgent thing.

Totally agree, and start giving people more personal responsibility. All the 'oh they don't know any better because reasons' is infantalising and reductive.
How can people have the capability to form/join criminal enterprises, but be seemingly be unexpected to get any job at mw or understand criminal responsibilities.

They have a huge mandate.

It will be a very long time before the Tories are vaguely electable again. They'll spend at least half of this parliament deciding whether to merge with Reform and tearing themselves apart over that.

I’m very pleased to see this high on the list of the new Government’s priorities, and I’m impressed with their approach and their appointments so far, though I’m not a Labour voter.

Fewer than 80 people in 5 years. Non payment of council tax is not the problem for the prison system.

The problem is similar to hospitals and bed blocking. Many prisoners have to demonstrate their rehabilitation for parole boards - sex offenders have to partake in certain courses for example, there are thinking skills courses, alcohol or drugs rehabilitation work, domestic abuse insight type courses.... But these are not available in every prison and so we shuffle these men (mostly men because women's prisons have totally different problems to men's) around the country to try to get them into a training course but it's not always possible.

We have drug dealers and organised crime groups managing drugs rings from their cells, staff corruption up the ying yang, drugs overdoses on a daily basis, prisoners needing shipping out because of debts and a price on their heads....

There needs to be huge investment in the prison buildings which are falling down around the ears of staff and prisoners alike.

There needs to be massive changes made to educational programmes and availability provided in far more prisons for the specialist courses for rehabilitation. And more incentive for basic maths and English to be completed by illiterate prisoners. We need educational support for dyslexia and so on.

Daily earnings in workshops needs to be reviewed to reduce debts and all the violence that brings. There needs to be more variation in workshop types to expand skillsets and improve the chances of working on release

We need huge investment in dealing with prisoners with autism and other ND issues. Especially where that translates into very violent outbursts.

We need "safety" and "disposal" razors banned from the whole estate and a shift to electric razors to prevent more injuries.

Truly, this is not bleeding heart liberal stuff.

This is a gruesome example of the consequences of the current problems - https://www.poauk.org.uk/news-events/news-room/posts/2021/july/following-horrific-attack-on-an-hmp-swansea-officer-the-poa-urge-hmpps-to-remove-razors-from-prisons/

In the British system vote share doesn't matter. They won the seats they needed, and by a very long way. Everything else is irrelevant.

I've found it so refreshing watching Starmer's press conference yesterday. He's so straightforward - no sound bites, no waffle about schemes we all know won't happen. He seems like a real grown up to me, taking charge and getting on with things.

Totally agree with thia. Prison reform ia much needed. And with his former role he has a great understanding x

Here’s an excerpt from that interview I referenced upthread https://x.com/krishgm/status/1809503192511602776?s=61&t=haffcpWC9mwmf6zkaHVRIg

You do as those unreformed are on your streets affcecting you ans your family

If you’ve got a bit more time, here’s James Timpson’s interview with The Rest is Money which gives you a good insight into the man and his philosophy.

podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-rest-is-money/id1703785141?i=1000647601150

Is that a current problem?Not read of any judges not being able to sentence people as no spaces? Has this been going on and Courts are refusng to jail criminals due to lack of space? I had no idea......

The courts and the whole prison system is in a massive mess.
There is a backlog of cases
Over flowing jails

But it's not been discussed much in the media.

I know. I’m not an imbecile. I’m telling you that the percentage of people that voted for this huge mandate 🤣🤣🤣 isn’t what it appears on the surface. Thankfully it won’t take much to reverse at the next election.

Well if there was 1 space left in prison who do you think should be in it....Dave for shoplifting or Pete for beating up his wife? Because the way it's going that maybe the reality. Free the spaces up and there will be more for those that present a real danger to society.

Why not? The Tory's ran on their "huge mandate" for years.

What's good for the goose .....

They've been in power less than 48 hours. They were warned halfway through the GE campaign this problem was looming and urgent.

They are trying to sort it.

And if anyone can sort out the justice system it's Starmer.

Give them a chance I say.

What constitutes a low risk prisoner? Curious..

So, to satisfy the lock ‘em up and throw away the key posters, we should build and staff several new prisons to make enough space for everyone to serve longer sentences and raise prison officer wages to attract sufficient staff to run the new prisons, but presumably simultaneously NOT raise taxes to fund the expense OR expand the Civil Service OR give civil servants pay increases because they’re all going to live off their gold-plated pensions one day (prison officers and probation staff are civil servants) OR by making the new prisons private sector so that they don’t make profits for shareholders that don’t flow back into the system that it seems pretty much everyone here agrees needs additional funding?

Can anyone explain how we square that circle?

I think it’s desperately important, even if many people didn’t have it in mind when they voted.

Prisons are full, so those who need to be in there may not be sent, or may be released very quickly. But we have many there who don’t need to be for various reasons.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-69014154

People are quick to complain when crimes rates are high etc but seem unwilling to accept the bigger picture that leads to that. Prison reform is a major factor in helping reduce crime. Too many people come out and reoffend which makes prision counterproductive- we need a system in place which actually reforms things to mean those who have offended come out and don’t offend again.

Timpson has a proven track record of helping to do just this so if he can help make changes on a bigger scale that is going to benefit all areas of society in the long run.

Of course it's a huge mandate. They are also the first party ever to get the majority in all four nations.

Timpson is a brilliant appointment, and I agree with PPs who have commented that prisons need early attention. It's where social failure ends up, but there are better punishments for non-violent crime that don't remove minor offenders from work and community into the universities of crime.