On taking office, didn't the Government say something about a "rehabilitation revolution"? Or was that a strange hallucination, brought on by post-election fever?
Don't get me wrong, I'm pretty sure that there are Working Parties, Committees, and the whole lexicon of managerialist garbage beavering away on the issue. That's the nature of bureaucracy.
But a year on, there has been no effect on the landings. None. Zilch. And a revolution in rehabilitation that goes unnoticed by prisoners is, well, pretty bloody pointless isn't it?
A peasant farmer is ordered by the politburo, to change the swill he feeds his pigs.
ReplyDeleteHe complains that his pigs are now giving off such dreadful odours, that he can no longer bear the stench; so he is going back to the old swill.
Comrade Lysenko tells him: "No citizen, the new swill is fine, you need to change your nose."
It's a bit like 'The Big Society' - just a soundbite with no substance to it sadly.
ReplyDeleteTo increase rehabilitation without increasing costs you have to cut prison numbers. To cut prison numbers you have to take on the Police, the Daily Mail, the Right wing Tories, the Strawite Labour ministers, the Prison Officers assosciation, and a few others.
ReplyDeleteEven if that is done, its not something that will be quick unfortunately.
@tallguy In other words remove all your pet hates and you still can't find a fix, or are you hiding something?
ReplyDeleteWho said they were my pet hates? I was just listing all those who have complained about Clarke's plans in the last year.
ReplyDeleteTo increase rehab and cut costs at the same time, you have to reduce prison numbers. I was listing those who object to cutting prison numbers. I do happen to feel prison numbers are too high, mostly because I do not accept that there has been sufficient increase in serious crime to justify a doubling of our prison population in 20 years. However, that does not mean that I regard any of those parties as pet hates, with the exception of the Daily Mail who published a rather unkind (and unjustified) story about a group of my friends a while ago.