The Justice Secretary’s first speech in his new job shows the topic may have changed, but the radical approach continues.
They are very different public services, but change needs to come to them both.
Suicide rates among prisoners are almost ten times higher than among the rest of the population.
He has a rendezvous with destiny as a true penal reformer
Over-60s are the fastest growing demographic behind bars.
Our own prison population is set to rise to new heights. Quite aside from the moral questions that raises, there are some tricky fiscal ones too.
Just under a third of prisoners say it is easy to get drugs in prison. Seven per cent say they have developed an addiction while incarcerated.
We scratch and scrabble around looking for solutions to the challenge. But this is the key.
Conventional courts focus on the crime being tried, when the real problem that needs to be addressed lies within the individual who committed it.
Cutting crime, cutting taxes and rehabilitating convicted criminals go hand in hand.
“So you don’t arrive at a decision because you’re a barrister and therefore you favour the bar or because you’re a solicitor and therefore you favour the solicitors’ firms.”
Today we are announcing new contracts with private and voluntary providers to ensure that no new offender will be left stranded with no help when they leave prison.
It used to be Laws versus Gove. Now it’s Hughes versus Grayling, or perhaps even Featherstone versus May.
Gove, May, IDS, Grayling, Maude. Unlike the minnows of Labour and UKIP, these are serious people delivering serious change for serious times.
The Justice Secretary’s speech offers hope for those who want to see lower crime, and lives put back on track.