Government plan to build new prisons puts 'profit over human dignity': Labour MP

Much criticism has been directed at a pledge by the British government to build new prisons based on the American system of for-profit jails operated by private companies in the US under government contracts.

The Ministry of Justice, MOJ, had earlier announced that four new prisons would be built across England in the next six years amid a drive to fulfill a Conservative manifesto pledge to develop 10,000 new prison places.

The MOJ came under fire for, allegedly, using state punishment as a means of raising the nation’s financial wellbeing after announcing the measure was designed to “help local economies” and “support the construction industry to invest and innovate” in a post to Twitter.

In a speech to be delivered on Tuesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was slated to announce the inception of a taskforce charged with fast-tracking the building of schools, hospitals, roads and prisons to push out of the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus.

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Fast-tracking is a technique where activities that would have been performed sequentially using the original schedule are performed in parallel. In other words, fast tracking a project means the activities are worked on simultaneously instead of waiting for each piece to be completed separately.

Meanwhile, Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy accused the department of "Americanising" the UK prison system, in which money talks.

“These plans don’t focus on safety or rehabilitation. They prioritize profit over human dignity, in a justice system that perpetuates inequality,” she wrote on Twitter.

The government has committed itself to build two sites in the southeast of England and one in the northwest, with the ministry currently working to identify locations for each.

The fourth site, to be built alongside HMP Full Sutton in Yorkshire, the only one to have its location confirmed, was first announced by Liz Truss during her time as justice secretary under Theresa May in 2017.

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It has still not been announced who shall actually operate the prisons. A number of jails in the UK are currently outsourced to private firms. Announcing the measure, the Ministry of Justice said it intended that at least one prison would be managed by the public sector.

Announcing the pledge, prisons and probation minister Lucy Frazer QC MP said, “These new jails form a major part of our plans to transform the prison estate, and create environments where offenders can be more effectively rehabilitated and turned away from crime for good.

“As well as a boost to our justice system, these prisons will create thousands of new jobs and send a clear signal that the government can and will continue to invest in the vital infrastructure this country needs.”

In a move which may be indicative that not all Labour MPs felt as Ms Ribeiro-Addy did, shadow justice secretary David Lammy embraced the plan as a means of alleviating overcrowding in the nation’s prisons.

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“Prisons in England and Wales are overcrowded and understaffed after a decade of underfunding by successive Conservative governments.

“Measures to ease pressure and ensure offenders can be punished and rehabilitated more effectively should be welcomed. However, we note that the ‘new’ prison in Sutton has now been announced on multiple occasions.”

On the other hand, many influential figure from the realm of prison reform have pleaded with the government to redirect funding into tackling the root causes of crime, instead of growing its stock of jail cells.

Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said, “In the face of furious local opposition, the government plans to squander hundreds of millions of pounds on building more prisons, which will soon be squalid cesspits of violence and drugs.

“Rather than dusting down old policy announcements that repeat the mistakes of the past, ministers should be showing us how they will tackle the bigger issues that drive crime – health inequalities, homelessness and a shrinking economy.

“Put short-term political gain to one side and come up with solutions that will reduce crime, make us safer, and take the country forward.”

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