Britain’s prison population reaches record high

This latest statistic means that the number of prisoners has almost doubled from 45,000 in the last 13 years. England and Wales now have the largest prison population in Europe at more than 145 per 100,000 of the general population.

At present, half the prisons in England and Wales are overcrowded. Approximately 17,000 prisoners are being held two to a cell built for one. This is set to get even worse, as many project the prison population rising to 93,000 in the next three years.

Reasons for the huge rise in prisoners are not hard to find. New legislation, such as the Criminal Justice Act 2003, has introduced longer, indeterminate sentences for people being assessed as serious offenders. There has also been the introduction of stricter enforcement procedures on community sentences and licences, and the holding of foreign nationals after they have served their custodial sentence, with a view to deportation.

All this has taken place in the context of the Labour government’s “law and order” agenda.

More
http://wsws.org/articles/2006/dec2006/pris-d02.shtml