Above, HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs.
From the BBC website: “We’re looking back at what happened on this morning’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show, where Labour’s Shabana Mahmood was asked about her party’s plans to address overcrowding in prisons – without big tax rises.
She said the Conservative government had not delivered enough prison spaces. The money had already been allocated for that, she said, but the government had allowed the planning system to get in the way.”
GOTO: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-69103457
British Gazette comment: Ms Mahmood is right when she criticises the Tories for the prison overcrowding. However the Tories are not wholly responsible. All parties are!
Ken Clarke famously opined: “There are no votes in prisons”. By that he meant that any money spent on prisons meant that the said money could not be spent on such as the NHS. Ask the voters to choose where that money goes it will be the NHS every time!
Ms Mahmood opines (correctly) that the Tories have allowed the objections raised by residents during the planning process to hold up construction. This because these folk do not want prisons built anywhere near them!
Then there are the politicians themselves. They like to make laws criminalising one thing after another. This inevitably leads to more prisoners!
Letting prisoners out early is also unpopular – with the voters!
Giving criminals shorter sentences and non custodial sentences is also unpopular with the voters!
Voters want criminals locked up! For a long long time!
Giving the UK a prison service suitable for the 21st Century will incur the wrath of voters and the tabloid newspapers!
IF Labour gets a majority of monumental proportions they will be able to do this. Whether or not they will do this is questionable!