Prison
Wonderful comedy of manners: Kiln Theatre’s The Purists reviewed
A slice of the ghetto arrives at the Kiln Theatre in Kilburn. The Purists is set on the stoop of…
What our prisons get wrong
‘Purposeful activity’ is a phrase often heard in discussions about our prisons. It describes work, training, therapeutic courses and other…
Stop children from suffering when their parents go to jail
Writing about the impact on children of having a parent in prison, you always hit the same brick wall: no…
The power of restorative justice
In a week when the Chief Inspector of Prisons published an Urgent Notification detailing the horrors of HMP Wandsworth, I…
Riveting and heart-wrenching: BBC1’s Time reviewed
‘Only with women’ is a phrase used by more cynical TV types for a show that takes something that’s been…
When did ‘best before’ dates begin?
An idea past its sell-by date Waitrose has announced the removal of ‘best before’ dates from many food products. –…
Man of mystery: Not Everybody Lives the Same Way, by Jean-Paul Dubois, reviewed
For Jean-Paul Dubois, as for Emily Dickinson, ‘March is the month of expectation’. A prolific writer, he limits his literary…
Where in the world will you find the cheapest petrol?
Whole-life sentences How many prisoners are serving whole-life sentences? — There are currently 74 prisoners in prison with whole-life tariffs;…
Colin Pitchfork should die in jail
Colin Pitchfork, the child rapist and murderer who was sentenced to life in prison in 1988, will soon be a…
Seldom less than gripping: Banged Up podcast reviewed
Prison-based podcast Banged Up, now in its second series, is far more uplifting — and less soapy — than its…
No, jail staff shouldn't call prisoners 'residents'
What do you call someone in prison? An inmate? Prisoner? How about a ‘resident’? That’s how those locked up in…
Perfect to fall asleep to: Good Grief reviewed
Good Grief is a new drama starring Sian Clifford who shot to fame as the older sister in Fleabag. The…
We must stop treating juvenile offenders as lost causes
Juvenile offenders need safety, care and a proper education
Consigned to a living tomb: Aziz BineBine endures 18 years in a subterranean prison
Imagine being on indefinite lockdown, imprisoned in a dark, underground, 6’ x 12’ cell, freezing in winter, boiling in summer…
Terror is the toughest issue facing the Tories
A prisoner is released early and just days later attacks people. It then emerges that he was known to still…
Terror cells: how Britain’s prisons became finishing schools for extremists
Our prisons are fuelling radicalism, not fighting it
As prisons minister, I saw how bad things really are on the inside
What I saw as prisons minister
How violent are our jails?
Parliamentary days Could one of parliament’s longest sessions be followed by one of its shortest? — The shortest was between…
My feud with Conrad Black
Goody goody gumdrops! The Donald has pardoned Lord Black and I couldn’t be happier. Conrad got a bum deal and…
The mosque where it’s the men who make the tea
On returning from a brief trip to Istanbul, where inside the mosques women are still very much kept to one…
Why former prisoners make the best lawyers
Kampala I am terrified of being with former death-row prisoner Susan Kigula. This is because she qualified for her…
The story of the cook who spent 10 years preparing food for those on death row
You don’t need headphones to appreciate, and catch on to, the unique selling point of radio: its immediacy, its directness,…
What are the writers of The Archers trying to achieve with the Freddie Pargetter story?
‘I’m not here to rehabilitate,’ says Pamela, who teaches creative writing to prisoners in Northern Ireland. She doesn’t think of…
