Until a few weeks ago I thought a “get out of jail free” card was something you could only find on the Monopoly board. Now the British Government is handing them out for real, because the jails are full. In the first week of July 1,700 criminals were released early; 344 of these had been doing time for violence. Thirty have already broken the terms of their release and the police are still hunting 18, who have presumably thrown sixes and headed for rich pickings on Park Lane. But ministers seem more interested in interning terror suspects without charge than incarcerating convicted thugs.
It is a fundamental principle of British justice that punishment should be proportionate to the crime. To most reasonable people that means that the sentence served should be the sentence given. Forget it. Since the 2003 Criminal Justice Act, anybody sentenced to more than four years has automatically been eligible for parole in half that time. Now we are told that 25,000 people serving less than four years will be released early in the coming year. That’s quite a few burglars and drug dealers. Even if it’s only a few weeks early, it’s not justice as we used to know it.
Sentences have become meaningless, and there is only one reason why: the Government's refusal to build enough cells. For ten years they have found it expedient to ignore the warnings that more prison places would be needed. As Chancellor, Gordon Brown consistently dismissed the pleas of Home Secretaries who were rivals. All sorts of creative financing mechanisms were proposed to the Treasury, notably by my friend Hilary Cottam, who proposed a sale and leaseback of Wormwood Scrubs. I asked David Blunkett about that scheme four years ago. He had tried everything, he said. The Treasury simply would not listen.
There are famously no votes in prisons: the public does not much care about reprobates, as long as they are out of sight and out of mind. They do care, however, if they come out and start terrorising old ladies. The prison issue is an unexploded bomb for Mr Brown that must be close to going off with the new Prime Minister still holding it.
This makes the complacency all the more odd. In the Commons last week Nick Herbert, the Shadow Justice Minister, called the Government’s management of the prison system a national disgrace. Jack Straw claimed that Labour had created 20,000 new prison places, but then admitted that many of these “places” were achieved simply by crowding more men into the same old cells. He asked, triumphantly, whether the Tories would foot the bill for the 60,000 more places that would be needed if all inmates were to serve their sentences in full. So prisons are still being treated as a game, and justice is being warped by the price tag.
In the past three weeks, this Government has committed £8 billion to housebuilding and £600 million to higher university grants, without turning a hair. It has spent billions on “just” wars in foreign parts. It talks tough on crime. But it seems squeamish about actually protecting its own citizens from criminals.
If we cannot afford to make prisoners serve their full sentences, there is precious little point in having judges who are skilled in the intricate balancing of intent, remorse, and suffering. If the “correct” number of prison places is defined as the existing number, because the Treasury prefers to spend its money elsewhere, we might as well tell the courts to start turning cases away.
There is a marvellous combination of doublespeak and doublethink here. It is doublespeak when ministers claim that “releasing people on licence means that their sentence continues”. In whose world? These individuals are free to offend again. It is doublespeak when the Prime Minister promises to deport foreign prisoners, many of whom will be protected by the Human Rights Act and a 2004 EU directive. It is doublethink when a government that has created more than 3,000 new offences and a myriad of criminal justice Bills then refuses to accept that it will need somewhere to put the extra offenders it has created.
Prison overcrowding has several disastrous consequences. On Tuesday the Appeal Court ruled against the indeterminate sentences that ministers designed to keep sex offenders in prison until they were deemed fit for release. Overcrowding has made it impossible for some of these men to take the parole courses required for them to be considered for parole – a Catch22 that has rightly been challenged. So sex offenders who were given short sentences by judges who thought the minimum tariff didn’t matter are now likely to be freed.
The worst consequence of the Government taking liberties with the prison system is that it has dashed almost any hope of rehabilitation. Half of all crimes are committed by ex-convicts. Half of all prisoners have shockingly poor literacy skills. Some have mental difficulties and many are on drugs. But the Government has quietly dropped its key performance indicator of 24 hours a week of “purposeful activity” in prison. Some young offender institutions are providing barely an hour of education a day. That is not justice, either.
Governments can cover up incompetence in most public services. They can blame the staff, or ask for productivity to be measured differently. Crime and punishment are different. The first duty of any government is to protect the public. Britain is now a country that feels scared; it has read in the past week of a father playing cricket with his son being stoned to death by boys as young as 11, and of a schoolboy shot in the head while on his bike.
What will happen when the perpetrators reach prison? “Pass Go and collect £200”, like the other prisoners on early release? Ministers cannot go on treating this as a game.
I wonder if bringing back Capital Punishment is the answer?!
I think so.
The human rights of murderers, rapists and paedophiles should be forfeit when they take away the human rights of their victims.
Does anyone care about the victims? I don't think so! The Government doesn't seem to care about the rights of the victim, only the rights of the criminal - What kind of country are we living in where our Government is more interested in what is happening abroad than the breakdown of our society in Great Britain!
Bee, Norwich, UK
This country is basically lawless. the only thing that prevents more crime in the UK is the natural law. Many crimes are a calculated risk and that many are not committed because the potential offender feels that they may come off worse if they decide to act - but not because they are afraid of the forces of law. They are probably more concerned that their actions could cause an irrate property owner or member of the public to respond in kind to their act of vandalism or violence.
In Glasgow for example many security firms such as those who protect building sites are widely known to be operated by the city's gangsters. who better?
james, glasgow, uk
If we can liberate ourselves from the tabloid-fuelled ignorance and hysteria for one moment of reflection:
- Those in the criminal justice system (CJS) and working in the CJS already know what works in reducing re-offending
- The CJS is already doing the things that are known to be effective in reducing re-offending
- Ex-offenders will tell you why they stopped offending if you take a minute to ask them: see my first and second points above
- Because no politician has the spine or the balls to publicly state that the CJS does actually turn some offenders around, few people on this blog or anywhere else know about it, hence the level of ignorance and stereotyping that are evidenced in the other contributions to this blog
For the record, those states in the USA that have the death penalty also have the highest rates of murder.
Please check your facts before blurting out platitudes and tired slogans. Try asking those of us who are actually working with offenders.
Marc, Bath, England
When you hear "prisoners who have been remanded for minor crimes will be released early" as a solution to the current issues surrounding space that HMP's currently face alarm bells do begin to ring. For a start Burglary is one of these crimes that are considered "minor", how can anyone call Burglary a minor crime, it is one of the crimes that can affect the way people live mentally in their own homes for a long time. A large percentage of burglars commit the crime in order to feed a drug habit (a habit they do not loose in prison), upon release they will still need to feed this habit and eventually this will lead them back to committing burglaries. Once they are committing burglaries again they are back invading peoples homes and taking away a part of their life that cannot be restored by any home insurance policy.
Releasing prisoners early is not solving a problem its just creating another problem that is worse than the first.
Dave J Sherwood, Upminster, Essex
Why would you not build more prisons if your forecasts show that you are going to have more prisoners. Presumably the problem is money, but we always seem to be able to find £9 billion at short notice if we go to war. So wah is the reason?
Brian Lewis, Manila, Philippines
Instead of putting petty offenders in prison, I suggest attaching a 15lb ball and chain to their leg for a few months.
That will reduce their ability to go running about the place thieving and creating mayhem.
john, norwich,
The prisons are never going to work , however many are built. It is the people of Britain who have to change so that the society becomes better. Each one of us has to ask whether they are law abiding to start with. Are they socially responsible ? Do they teach their children to respect other people ant other peoples property ? Do they teach their children to be honest ? Do they spend time to look after their own children and family ? Should we gorify drinking ? It is a norm to boast and be admired for the deeds of the previous night on the town. Most crimes are from alcohol.The TV ads and shows encourage us to behave irrationally and with disrespect for rules and society.
The government cannot legislate against what is in the society as a whole. Change yourself and see changes in society. Don't expect the government to do it all for you. Take responsibility for your own actions. If we all start now , it will take 30 years ( a generation ) to get there.
Mahomed Ladha, London,
Enough foolishness, Andrew Holden of Oxford!
Prison does indeed work (and, as it needs to be pointed it out to you)... ..because then, these criminals cannot commit more crimes.....there, you see?.....its quite simple really.
Doris Whitaker, London,
A couple of points, 11year old children are never going to be sent to prison in a civilised country even if they stone people. That is a matter for society in general and parents in particular.
Prisons cannot rehabilitate anyone if society refuses to play its part, ex-offenders struggle to get employment because on the whole employers are reluctant to take them on, so no matter how hard prisons work to effect resettlement they cannot bring about rehabilitation in a vacuum.
Patrick Brennan, Bigleswade, U. Kingdom
Brown out ! He can't have it all ways. He created this problem as chancellor. He can't be trusted to fix it as Prime Minister.
William, Norwich, England, UK.
It's about time we had a complete review of penal policy.
Prison does not work and is no solution to the problem of dealing with crime. It's expensive, is not a deterrent and certainly doesn't help reform criminals.
Prison should only be a very last resort to protect the public from extremely dangerous criminals. The rest should be given community service orders and made to work to support their families and pay reparations for their crimes.
Andrew Holden, Oxford, UK
Eriksson's overseas buying policy goes against type
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premiership/manchester_city/article2170054.ece
My first reaction on hearing the news of Sven's appointment was you must behaving a laugh. A laugh at the expense of the die hard fans that have suffered the false dawns and the rollercoaster ride that is Manchester City. Time however, has an uncanny knack of providing the evidence you require to substantiate your hunch or blow it completely out of the water. This has happened since the appointment of Mr. McClaren! His lack of tackle know how has been exposed, prompting me to believe he welded far more influence than we were led to believe. When frustration had reached a universal level with each near miss with the national side, I thought Sven remained calm and resolute. These qualities allied to a shrewd brain will be needed in abundance if City are to achieve the sanctity of mediocrity. Mediocrity will afford the time and space we, yes I use 'we' as I have swayed by his plunges into the transfer market avoiding the inflated prices being asked for the latest crop of British talent, require to fashion a team capable of competing at the highest level.
Andrew Bailey, Manchester, UK
Change prison sentences and treatment. Have those convicted of murder, rape, robbery and assault on bread and water repairing the roads and engaged in other hard labour. Then perhaps would-be criminals will think twice before they commit crime. At the same time, medical treatment for drug addicts, and alternative sentencing for those convicted of minor offences, such as small debt. Laws denying separated parents access to their children should be reviewed.
Justice demands that gaol should be first for punishment and only secondly for rehabilitation. And liberals who ground their beliefs on the Illustration should remember that Kant thought so, too.
Francis Tuttle, Madrid,
We could stop putting OAPs in prison for not paying their rise in Council tax for a start!
Non payment of fines,take the money directly from wages or benefits.Those who have committed non threatening crime e.g fiddling the taxman- again take the money directly from savings,wages or benefits.
For all violent crimes imprisonment for lengthy periods,and make them work to pay for their board and lodgings.
Disgusted Dorothy, Glasgow, Scotland
I am not sure why you describe it as a 'unexploded bomb'. It's quite easy to defuse - let more criminals out. Labour have made a mockery of almost everything else so why let justice get in the way of a re-election. The more this government gets detached from reality the more you have to wonder if we are really living in a big brother house!
simon, UK,
Why focus on the lack of space in prisons, rather than on whether people should be there in the first place? It is easy to blame goverment, rather than the vengeful and careless attitudes of many of the electorate (fed by very careless journalism), for over-full prisons, These attitudes tend to drive government to over-filling prisons in the first place - hugely wasting tax-payers money and people's lives.
Does this country have many more criminally inclined people than most European countries? Or is it simply a case of having more habitual drunks and drug addicts, who commit a huge proportion of the crimes - major and minor? We certainly have a greater proportion of our people in prison.
It should be more frutiful to look to the causes - and to our sentencing policies which are much m ore severe, and are seemingly less successful, than in most other EU countries.
D M Clark, Edinburgh,
We are sending so many fathers to jail for breaching Court orders is it any wonder the jails are over crowded with three / four to a one man cell.
Fathers who defy the court order which says thet are not permitted to see or speak to their own children after a separation spend years in jail on the verbal evidence of the angry and axe grinding mother who uses the court ''service'' to stop UK fathers gaining equal or any access to their children.
Should we be sending fathers to jail for fighting to see their own children? Should it be legal in the UK for a father to see his own child after a separation?
Millions of UK fathers are being denied access and to their children, and the fathers who breech the court order not permmiting this basic human right should be set free.
jean, London, UK
"The first duty of any government ..." is to get re-elected by any means fair or foul. This is because a career politician cannot envisage a world outside politics where he/she has to work for a living like the rest of us.
The current bunch started an un-necessary war (Iraq, not Afghanistan), claimed the credit for peace in Northern Ireland when all they did was codify the result of Thatcher's resolve and Major's patience, and now they are endangering the public on the streets. Referendum anyone?
KR, Stockport,
So crime clearly does pay then...
Jason Scrutton, London,
The real shock in this absolute scandal is that none of the major newspapares or even the opposition have highlighted the criminal disregard for law and order enforcement that has been shown by Brown. He alone is the man guilty of creating this huge crisis and indeed for allowing it to continue - in previous governments, the perpetrator of such arrogant incompetence and neglect of duty in office would have been hung out to dry - why has a similar fate not been dished out to Brown ? by way of his policies he is basically condoning crime and then covering it up in order to save his own skin and push his complete political failure under the carpet - it is hard to swallow that such a devious, political coward can be so duplicitous when he talks of courage and honesty in government - two traits he himself could never aspire to
Bryan Reed, Totland Bay, UK
My propopal has always been - One per cell for first offence, two for second, three for third, -ainsi suite!
With Dominic of Manchester's suggestion as well, the lack of prison space would be solved at a stroke.
Bill H, Laissac, France
1 - Refuse to fund any more prisons
2 - Manipulate the rules on parole and remission so as to free up
space winthin the existing accommodation provision.
3 - If (2) above is not enough initiate "early release" to make up
the numbers
4 - In tandem with the above, introduce ever more restrictive
laws on the ability of the law-abiding to defende themselves
against the depradations of muggers, burglars and violent
intruders.
5 - Create a media smoke-screen of "bold initiat ives", police
"crackdowns" and similar waffle to divert attention from
genuine errors of policy over the years.
What an Alice-in-Wonderland way to run a country !
T D Lewis, Wickenburg, Arizona
Gordon Brown was the Chancellor for the last ten years with unprecedented influence over domestic policy and was therefore inextricably linked to the numerous domestic failings of the Blair premiership.
He is directly linked with a history of failure and underachievement, and many of his new policy announcements are reheated headline-grabbers.
The more people who remember this at the next election, the better.
Just An Observer, London, UK
I can triple the number of prison spaces without laying a single brick.
A human needs 8 hours of sleep a day.
There are 24 hours in a day
24/8 = 3.
Instead of one prisoner to a bed, 3 to a bed, in shifts.
It'll require more staff of course, but its a much cheaper option.
Dominic, Manchester, UK
Ah, but the government has a cunning plan! Various ministers, chief constables and left-wing journalists will tell us that our perception of crime far outruns its actual occurrence. Thus spurious metaphysics will be used to deny the evidence of our very own eyes.
JL, Liverpool,
The Criminal Justice System is incarcerating the wrong people. The custodial sentence decision has to be based on potential threat to society, not some mediaeval notion of society extracting vengeance, or even public confidence in the justice system.
Thus a wife that kills her husband after years of abuse is essentially zero risk to society (assuming she doesn't re-marry, but even then). Likewise, sentences handed down for white-collar offences seem based on society’s need for revenge, rather than potential threat, real or perceived. Lord Archer's crime was perverting the course of justice and perjury. Surely that could have been addressed with a fine. Although his "Prison Diaries" should be on every Home Secretary’s bookcase. However, violent crime in the furtherance of say theft, need to be stamped on hard. The violent career-criminal burglar or mugger needs to be banged up for the duration.
Andrew Milner, Yokohama , Kanagawa
And what will happen when the public, angry, scared and frustrated, take the law into their own hands? Civil disorder of unimaginable proportions cannot be far off.
Martin Pilcher, Hertford,
You say there are no votes in Prisons,yes there are.If people saw that there was justice they would support the government on prisons but as they see that there is no justice they are just fed up with the whole thing.When a sentence is given by the court it should mean it.
That is the problem...a total lack of justice.It is a word that just does not seem to be said by any Home Secretary or Government Minister.10 years should mean 10 years,no more,no less.
The public would see justice dispensed and the criminal would no that the justice system was no longer a game.
Nigel, wimbledon, uk
"Bring back capital punishment - death sentence for murderers, rapists and pedophiles - then watch the number of crimes and the burden to the tax payer fall in synch.
Farrukh, Woking, UK"
It's true. A dead prisoner no longer costs money. There are certain crimes which there are no rehabilitation from.
Why should schools be crumbling, the education service as a whole going downhill, the NHS not being able / willing to fund treatment for innocent people, while the prison service 'demands' funds for 'rehabilitation'. Everyone who insists prisoners should be released early, should have them moved in next door to them. Then when crime suddenly rockets, and they no longer feel safe, ask them if they still want them released.
I'm sorry, but in my books, the innocent get the money first, and any left can be spent on improving prisons.
Arthur, Newcastle,
It has been over 4,000 years since the first law code of Hammurabi defined the relationship between the individual and society. Not only did it provide punishment as a deterrent to crime, more importantly, it assured the victim that society would punish the transgressor. This no longer made the blood feud necessary, for it was the society that would provide for retribution.
Once society no long punishes the offender; once it no longer provides retribution for the victim, it has failed to uphold its part of the social compact. While there may be law, there is no order. That is when the blood feud returns; that is when individuals are left to seek their own retribution The failure of society carries a heavy price!
Bob Evans, Anaheim, California
This is a disturbing and well researched article.
A point worth considering is the annual cost to the government per inmate, variously estimated to be about £40,000 p.a., disproportionately comparable with the cost of primary, secondary or higher education and with a huge difference in value to society of each cost centre.
One possibility for managing larger numbers on parole might be to provide work pro-actively for the benefit of others for some of those claiming benefit payments in lieu of work. Might not the weekly benefit cheque be better earned if recipients were actively involved in supervision of those on parole?
Apart from creating a sense of worth from work of value as temporary parole assistants, there could a focus of mind on those on parole from being under observation in a more intense way than expected.
dr venables preller, Warminster, UK
Wel said! Brown and his lightweight ministers cannot pass the buck on this one. Labour has had 10 years to deal with the prisoner accommodation problem and instead, has crafted the shambles we see today.
paul turfery, Cork, Ireland
The Labour party has provided the Government now for ten years. During all of that time the Country has been in decline.
The current Prime Minister has been at the helm of the nations budget for the full period so there is nothing new in any of the Policies he is advocating. All those Policies could have been implimented years ago but were stiffled by the then Chanceller.
As for the Prisons crisis, that surely must be the responsibility of Brown who scoffed at all the proposals for new prison places. Now the problem is on his desk again and will be his achiles heel for the future.
Law and order will be the failing of yet another Labour Goverment just as it was in 1979. Will they never learn from past mistakes?
Gordon, Winchester,
Bring back capital punishment - death sentence for murderers, rapists and pedophiles - then watch the number of crimes and the burden to the tax payer fall in synch.
Farrukh, Woking, UK