Tough prison rules preventing inmates from getting perks will be ripped up – because they are too harsh
Justice Secretary Liz Truss faces a backlash after proposals to allow governors more leeway in rewarding prisoners
TOUGH prison rules preventing lags from getting too many perks are being ripped up because they are too harsh.
Justice Secretary Liz Truss faces a backlash after proposals to allow governors more leeway in rewarding prisoners emerged last night.
It comes after Downing Street condemned “unacceptable” pictures of lags living it up on steak and playing games consoles.
Details buried in a White Paper unveiled by Mrs Truss earlier this month state the privileges policy “restricts governor discretion” in recognising good behaviour.
Meanwhile, officers fed up with violence in jails threatened a second strike yesterday.The Prison Officers Association refused to rule out another day of action after crunch talks with the Cabinet Minister. POA chief Mike Rolfe said: “Our members need to feel safe."
“If these talks fall flat on their face then we won’t be able to rule anything out. We realise the implications of that.”
In a brutal day for the Justice Secretary, Mrs Truss admitted to “serious issues” in UK jails after images of lags in one jail enjoying steak, smoking joints, and playing games consoles.
And she snapped on live TV when asked if she was “out of her depth”.
The Prime Minister waded into the crisis yesterday by saying the behaviour of the lags living it up behind bars were “completely unacceptable”. But the PM’s official spokesman insisted she had full confidence in Mrs Truss.
The POA took 10,000 members out on strike on Tuesday in protest at an alarming rise in violence. The Government was forced to seek an injunction from a High Court judge to get them to go back to work.
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An official report from the National Offender Management Service earlier this month revealed the number of prison officer posts in UK jails was 800 ‘below benchmark’.
Ministers have vowed to crack down on the explosion in drugs and mobile phones behind bars. Two weeks ago, Mrs Truss vowed to hire 2,500 more staff to man the jails.
The Howard League for Penal Reform last night blamed Chris Grayling – who served as Justice Secretary up until 2014 - for the mess in Britain’s prisons.
Frances Crook, Howard League chief, said: “Liz Truss has received a hospital pass from Chris Grayling, which Michael Gove’s sacking saw him step over. The problem now is that she has to deal with it.”