David Cameron announces overhaul of 'scandalous' prison system - Polidicks

[img]http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/154D8/production/_88165278_cameron_getty.jpg[/img] [url]http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/david-cameron-says-half-of-prison-governors-will-get-complete-autonomy-as-he-admits-britains-jail-a6859701.html[/url] [quote]David Cameron is set to rip up decades of Conservative orthodoxy on crime and punishment, admitting that Britain’s prison system has been a “scandalous failure” for years and calling for reform to be the “great progressive cause” of British politics. In the first speech by a Prime Minister on prisons in more than two decades he will roundly reject the old Tory hang ’em and flog ’em mantra of previous leaders and call for prisoners to be treated not as “liabilities to be managed” but “assets to be harnessed”. It is understood Mr Cameron wants to give up to half of all prison governors complete autonomy over how they run their institutions within five years to improve re-offending rates, in a move modelled on the Government’s school academy programme. As in schools, the Government also intends to publish league tables of prison performance while, in another initiative borrowed from the education sector, there are plans to establish a new “jail first” programme – based on the successful Teach First model – to recruit high-quality graduates to work in the prison sector. There will also be initiatives to try and reduce the overall prison population by extended use of satellite tagging and community punishments. Prison-reform charities welcomed what they described as the “exciting rhetoric” of Mr Cameron’s speech but warned it would be meaningless unless efforts were made to reduce the number of people sent to prison each year.[/quote] [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35518477[/url] [quote]Six "reform prisons" are to be created in England and Wales as part of a pilot to tackle high levels of violence and re-offending, David Cameron has said. Governors will have autonomy over their operation and budgets, while graduate teachers will be recruited for jails. The prime minister also announced new powers to speed up the deportation of foreign inmates. In other developments: - Ministers will work with network operators to block phone signals to prisons to target the problem of smuggled mobiles being used for criminal purposes - League tables will be published showing how successful prisons are at cutting reoffending, improving literacy and helping inmates find jobs - Improved satellite tracking will mean some convicted criminals only spend the weekend in prison - The governors of Young Offenders Institutions will be given the same freedoms the head teachers of free schools have in an attempt to improve conditions[/quote] [url]http://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/live/2016/feb/08/cameron-accused-scaremongering-brexit-calais-jungle-england-politics-live?page=with:block-56b891dfe4b09b1cb9ebb4d5#block-56b891dfe4b09b1cb9ebb4d5[/url] [quote=David Cameron]Not everyone shows remorse and not everyone seeks redemption. But I also strongly believe that we must offer chances to change; that for those trying hard to turn themselves around, we should offer hope; that in a compassionate country, we should help those who’ve made mistakes to find their way back onto the right path. In short: we need aprisonsystem that doesn’t see prisoners as simply liabilities to be managed, but instead as potential assets to be harnessed. But the failure of our system today is scandalous. 46% of all prisoners will re-offend within a year of release. 60% of short-sentenced prisoners will reoffend within the same period. And current levels ofprisonviolence, drug-taking and self-harm should shame us all.“In a typical week, there will be almost 600 incidents of self-harm; at least one suicide; and 350 assaults, including 90 on staff. 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 re-offending? It’s the mother 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.[/quote]

So is this him doing an actual good thing or does it just [I]seem[/I] that way?

He'll probably just continue the policy of privatisation tbh. The idea of for-profit prisons is ridiculous.

Now I dislike DC and most of the things he does, but this is good.

Snip

Opened this thread expecting to see Cameron railing against our prisons for not being brutal enough, was pleasantly surprised.

[QUOTE=chunkymonkey;49698100]So is this him doing an actual good thing or does it just [I]seem[/I] that way?[/QUOTE] Actions speak louder than words and his past record does him no justice.

[QUOTE=NorthernFall;49698398]He'll probably just continue the policy of privatisation tbh. The idea of for-profit prisons is ridiculous.[/QUOTE] sad to see brits going down the same path as the US when it comes to for-profit prisons, hopefully this actually changes things

You guys really need to kick this tool of the office before he brings the uk down oh sweet lord I just checked Google you're stuck with him untill 2020 ( for some reason I thought he was elected earlier )

[QUOTE=theevilldeadII;49711313]You guys really need to kick this tool of the office before he brings the uk down oh sweet lord I just checked Google you're stuck with him untill 2020 ( for some reason I thought he was elected earlier )[/QUOTE] "We're going to reform prisons to do good things for the world!" "You guys need to get this guy out of office before he ruins your country!" Do any of you have any idea how ridiculous you sound?

[QUOTE=Shadow801;49711364]"We're going to reform prisons to do good things for the world!" "You guys need to get this guy out of office before he ruins your country!" Do any of you have any idea how ridiculous you sound?[/QUOTE] or you could not be so blinded to just this one report of this 1 topic and consider everything Cameron has and is planning to do, and see how out of touch he really is 1 speech full of goodwill gestures doesn't erase a continuous track record of the exact opposite

[QUOTE=subenji99;49711380]or you could not be so blinded to just this one report of this 1 topic and consider everything Cameron has and is planning to do, and see how out of touch he really is 1 speech full of goodwill gestures doesn't erase a continuous track record of the exact opposite[/QUOTE] No, this is a good report. I'm happy about this. This is moving the country forward in a good way. I'm not happy about the free vote on Fox Hunting. But that's not going to stop me acknowledging the good things the government does.

[QUOTE=Shadow801;49711441]No, this is a good report. I'm happy about this. This is moving the country forward in a good way. I'm not happy about the free vote on Fox Hunting. But that's not going to stop me acknowledging the good things the government does.[/QUOTE] Such as?

[QUOTE=NorthernFall;49698398]He'll probably just continue the policy of privatisation tbh. The idea of for-profit prisons is ridiculous.[/QUOTE] Indeed. If anything a prison should be a hospital, not a waste storage facility run by money-minded robots.

So the prison system is scandalous but the chronic underfunding of the healthcare system and being determined to privatize it after its been starved of resources is not?

[QUOTE=GordonZombie;49711995]Such as?[/QUOTE] See OP