Prime Minister David Cameron, has criticised the “scandalous failure” of Britain's jail system. He states prisons that release criminals who reoffend should be named and shamed.
It has been analysed that 60% of short-sentenced convicts will reoffend within 12 months of being released from prison which no doubt, is harmful to society.
David Cameron said, “This failure really matters. It matters to the public purse: this cycle of reoffending costs up to £13 billion a year. It matters to you: because in the end, who are the victims of this reoffending? It's the mothers who gets burgled or the young boy who gets mugged. It matters to the prison staff- some of the most deeply committed public servants in our country- who have to work in dangerous and intimidating conditions. And yes, it matters to the prisoners themselves, who mustn't feel like society has totally given up on them.”
He further stated, “In short: we need a prison system that doesn't see prisoners as simply liabilities to be managed, but instead as potential assets to be harnessed.”
While also speaking about the failure of the prison system, David Cameron has also mentioned about infants who are kept behind bars as their mothers are serving their jail sentence.
The Prime Minister said, “It is absolutely terrible to think that some babies are spending the earliest months – even years – of their lives behind bars. Prison staff do their best to make these environments pleasant. Some units even have special sensory rooms, so that babies can see colours, sights and sound – even nature – that they wouldn’t ever otherwise see inside the grey walls of a jail.”
He further added, “There are actually women in these prisons who were born in the same prison twenty years earlier, and then have ended up there later as criminals themselves. Think of the damage done to the life chances of these children. It’s time to think seriously about whether this is the right approach. We’ve got to break this cycle.”
