Smart on crime

Enough of this penal populism – it's time for Keir Starmer to reform sentencing

- 

Winston Churchill once said that the way a society treats its criminals "is one of the most unfailing tests of the civilisation of a country".

This nation is failing that test. Prisons are desperate, dangerous places, unable to perform their role of rehabilitating inmates and making them less likely to reoffend. Drugs, violence and self-harm are rife. With too many prisoners locked up for 23 hours a day, education and training are all but impossible. It is shocking that almost 10% of male prisoners develop an addiction in jail. It is appalling that three-quarters of prisoners have literacy levels below those expected of an 11-yearold, but are not being taught to read and write in custody.

When 80% of offending is reoffending, the current approach is not reducing crime: it is in fact making the streets less safe. The government has been forced to free up space - through the early release scheme and changes to the recall system - but the jails are running out of places again. Even the £10bn prisonbuilding programme will not be enough to plug the gap.