Richard Burgon, Labour’s Shadow Justice
Secretary, commenting on HM Chief Inspector of Prisons’ Annual Report for
2016-17, said:
“This report makes it clear that the crisis in our prisons is
getting worse by the day.
“Our prisons are becoming ever more dangerous for prisoners and
staff alike. Assaults on staff are up by over a third and it is a stain on the
nation that not a single young offenders institute inspected was deemed safe.
“The Conservative Government’s failure to get a grip of this
crisis, including dropping prison reform from the Queen’s Speech, is making it
more difficult to turn prisoner’s lives around and to reduce risk to the
public.
“Drastic Conservative cuts to prison budgets and staff numbers are
driving this prisons crisis. Labour would tackle it by recruiting thousands of
new prisons officers and increasing staff retention by improving terms and
conditions.”
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