How to Reform Prisons
The new government has inherited a prison crisis. The closure of prisons and the failure to build new ones means that there is simply not enough space to safely accommodate the prison population. This is obviously a problem for society, prisoners, and the prison staff.
The most obvious solution to this is to build more prisons. It was incredibly welcome to hear Rachel Reeves commit to taking on the NIMBYs who attempt to block the building of homes and infrastructure. The government should be prepared to show the same ruthlessness and push through the building of prisons, even if the local population object.
We also need to look at reducing recidivism rates. The government should invest in schemes both inside and outside of prisons which aim to reform criminals so they’re less likely to reoffend.
The government should reduce what is criminalised and who gets sent to prison. The most obvious starting place for this should be drugs. There are currently over 11,000 people languishing in prison for drug related offences. The government should not be in the business of telling people what to do with their bodies and so this should not be considered a criminal act. All drugs should be legalised and regulated and everyone currently serving a prison sentence for drug offences alone should be immediately released from prison.
Reducing criminalisation will free up resources in the criminal justice system allowing the police to actually investigate crimes properly and that these criminals are punished appropriately and society is protected from them.
The Met should also be closed down and rebuilt from scratch.
I’ll probably write a longer piece expanding on some of these points at a later date but I’m currently travelling. Thanks as ever for reading! Ben