Minister does not rule out ‘supermax’ jails for most dangerous offenders following alleged Rudakubana attack on prison officer
“Supermax” jails could be built to house the most dangerous offenders following a spate of alleged attacks on staff, the prisons minister has said.
James Timpson told the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge that “we shouldn’t rule anything out” when asked if the most dangerous criminals should be placed in top security prisons.
It comes after Southport triple killer Axel Rudakubana allegedly threw boiling water from a kettle at an officer at HMP Belmarsh on Thursday. Police are now investigating.
Politics latest: PM has undergone a ‘miraculous conversion’, say Tories
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Is the UK prison system broken?
Before that, three prison officers were also allegedly attacked by 28-year-old Hashem Abedi – the brother of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi – with hot cooking oil and “improvised knives”, potentially made from a baking tray.
Speaking from HMP Preston for a special programme of the Politics Hub, Mr Timpson told Sophy Ridge: “We inherited a complete mess in the prison system.
“Violence is up, assaults on staff is up. But for me, we shouldn’t rule anything out.”
He added: “What we need to do is to speak to our staff. They’re the experts at dealing with these offenders day in, day out. “
Mr Timpson – who was the chief executive of Timpson Group before he was appointed prisons minister last year – said the violence in prisons was “too high”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Are we sending too many people to prison?
He continued: “The number of people when you have prisons are so full, and the people in there are not going to education or into purposeful activity.
“You get more violence and that is totally unacceptable. Our staff turn up to work to help turn people.
“They want to turn people’s lives around. They didn’t turn up to work to get assaulted. It’s totally unacceptable.”
Read more:
Should some women offenders be spared jail?
Prison officer ‘will be killed if government does not get a grip’
Reflecting on the crisis facing the UK prison system ahead of the government’s sentencing review, Mr Timpson said a major problem was the high rate of reoffending, saying “80% of offending is reoffending”.
He said people were leaving places like HMP Preston “addicted to drugs, nowhere to live, mental health problems – and that’s why they keep coming back”.
Asked whether every prison had a drugs issue, he replied: “100%.”
“If we want to keep the public safe, we need to do a lot more of the work in here and in the community. But also we need to build more prisons.”
Put to him that making more use of community sentences – thought to be one of the recommendations in the government’s sentencing review – might be considered a “cushy option” compared to a custodial sentence, Mr Timpson said: “There are some people in this prison tonight who would prefer to be in prison than do a community sentence – but that’s not everybody.
“Community sentences need to be tough punishments outside of prison, not just to help them address their offending behaviour, but also the victims need to see punishments being done too and for me, technology has a big part to play in the future.”
Politics
MP Zarah Sultana who was ousted from Labour announces she is starting new political party with Jeremy Corbyn
An MP who was ousted from the Labour Party has announced she is setting up a new political party with Jeremy Corbyn.
Independent MP Zarah Sultana said she and the former Labour leader will co-lead the new party, which she did not provide a name for.
She said other independent MPs, campaigners and activists from across the country will join them, but did not name anyone.
Politics latest: Zarah Sultana’s stinging resignation letter
Ms Sultana also said she was “resigning” from the Labour Party after 14 years.
She was suspended as a Labour MP shortly after they came to power last summer for voting against the government maintaining the two-child benefit cap.
Several others from the left of the party, including Mr Corbyn, were also suspended for voting against the government, and also remained as independent MPs.
However, Ms Sultana was still a member of the Labour Party – until now.
Mr Corbyn has previously said the independent MPs who were suspended from Labour would “come together” to provide an “alternative.
The other four are: Iqbal Mohamed, Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan and Adnan Hussain.
Mr Corbyn and the other four independents have not said if they are part of the new party Ms Sultana announced.
In her announcement, Ms Sultana said she would vote to abolish the two-child benefit cap again and also voted against scrapping the winter fuel payment for most pensioners.
Ms Sultana also voted against the government’s welfare bill this week, which was heavily watered down as Sir Keir Starmer tried to prevent a major rebellion from his own MPs.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Protesters block Israeli arms manufacturer in Bristol
On Wednesday, Ms Sultana spoke passionately against Palestine Action being proscribed as a terror organisation – but MPs eventually voted for it to be.
She said to proscribe it is “a deliberate distortion of the law to chill dissent, criminalise solidarity and suppress the truth”.
Ms Sultana said they were founding the new party because “Westminster is broken but the real crisis is deeper – just 50 families now own more wealth than half the UK population”.
She called Reform leader Nigel Farage “a billionaire-backed grifter” leading the polls “because Labour has completely failed to improve people’s lives.
Ms Sultana called Nigel Farage a ‘billionaire-backed grifter’. Pic: PA
The MP, who has spoken passionately about Gaza, added: “Across the political establishment, from Farage to Starmer, they smear people of conscience trying to stop a genocide in Gaza as terrorists.
“But the truth is clear: this government is an active participant in genocide. And the British people oppose it.
“We are not going to take this anymore.”
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “In just 12 months, this Labour government has boosted wages, delivered an extra four million NHS appointments, opened 750 free breakfast clubs, secured three trade deals and four interest rate cuts lowering mortgage payments for millions.
“Only Labour can deliver the change needed to renew Britain.”
Roman Storm is scheduled to appear in a New York courtroom for his criminal trial on July 14, facing money laundering and conspiracy charges.
The Wyoming Senator seeks to end double taxation and add clarity to the tax treatment of crypto staking, mining, and lending transactions.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike