Prisons
Labour should be wary of scrapping short prison sentences
What is the point of a short prison sentence? David Gauke will no doubt think carefully about that question now…
What has become of the Wellcome Collection?
In 2022 the Wellcome Collection caused a stir by closing its Medicine Man exhibition on the grounds that it was…
Portrait of the week: prisoners are freed, Ted Baker closes and train drivers announce strikes
Home Emergency measures, known as Operation Early Dawn, were brought in to ease prison overcrowding. Defendants would be summoned to…
Let prisoners phone home
‘A society is measured by the treatment of its prisoners,’ Winston Churchill said. Last year, in England and Wales, every…
Can Labour solve our prisons crisis?
There is no doubt that the new government (and in particular the prisons minister, James Timpson) is faced with a…
The toxic prison attitude that can cost inmates their lives
David Morgan, a 35 year-old man, told staff he’d taken an overdose. A nurse decided the man seemed drunk and…
Our prison culture is more barbaric than it was in 1823: Elizabeth Fry ‘The Angel of Prisons’ reviewed
The Angel of Prisons dramatises the life of the penal reformer Elizabeth Fry, who lived near Canning Town. She married…
Our prisons are woefully unprepared for Ali Harbi Ali
The Islamist terrorist Ali Harbi Ali will spend the rest of his life behind bars for the murder of Sir…
The case for isolating terrorists in prison is stronger than ever
Watching last night’s ITV report from inside two of Britain’s highest security jails was an odd experience for me. The…
Held me so fast I was outbid on eBay: Clemency reviewed
Clemency stars Alfre Woodard as a prison warden on death row whose job is beginning to take its toll, and…
Locked up in lockdown
COIVD-19 has turned us all into prisoners: draconian lockdown orders, solitary confinement, monotonous food, limited fresh air and exercise, irregular…
Which country locks up the most people?
Girls only Polish village Miejsce Odrzanskie was reported not to have had a single boy born in the past decade,…
Ministers shouldn’t be able to escape their mistakes
There is little doubt that Rory Stewart is amply-qualified for his belated promotion to the cabinet. The new International Development…
Letters: The US sanctions against Venezuela have always been about regime change
Venezuelan sanctions Sir: Contrary to the impression given by Jason Mitchell, Venezuela does not have a socialist economy (‘Maduro’s madness’,…
In chaotic Venezuela, life is better in prison
‘I murder people!’ says Elanger matter-of-factly in response to my question about what he does for a living. From the…
Portrait of the week
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, said that if Britain left the European Union, France could stop allowing British officials…
Could I have prevented a Kray murder?
Could I have prevented a Kray murder?
Portrait of the week
Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, outlined four changes he sought in Britain’s membership of the EU. He wanted to…
Four great demolition disasters
Bang goes the plan The demolition of six tower blocks in Glasgow failed when the top half of two of…
Would Jesse Boot have agreed with Stefano Pessina? (Clue: he called his employees ‘comrade’)
Right Boot, left Boot What would Jesse Boot, who built Britain’s largest chemist chain from his father’s herbal shops, made…
Under this government, our prison system is falling apart
In the past two years, our prisons have gone from places of rehabilitation to pits of despair
Who cleans skyscrapers?
Tough at the top The clocks on Big Ben were cleaned by abseiling window-cleaners. Some other big cleaning/painting jobs: —…
Are pigeons braver than dogs?
Animal spirit A labrador blown up with her handler while sniffing for bombs in Afghanistan in 2008 became the 64th…
