The justice minister Crispin Blunt is in the doghouse this afternoon after Downing Street slapped him down for suggesting that the ban on arts and comedy courses in prisons should be lifted.
David Cameron was persuaded to intervene after the Daily Mail went to town on the story this morning, baldly declaring: “Now you pay for prison parties”.
With the ink still wet on the Mail, Downing Street announced this morning: “No 10 has instructed the Ministry of Justice to make it clear that there will be no prison parties.”
All of which makes Blunt’s speech seem remarkably prescient. Discussing justice policy under Labour, he said:
At the slightest whiff of criticism from the popular press, policy tended to get changed and the consequence of an absurd overreaction to offenders being exposed to comedy in prison was this deleterious, damaging and daft instruction.
It was careless of Blunt not to clear his remarks with No 10, but the opportunity for a thoughtful debate on prison and rehabilitation has been lost. Blunt’s approach is not that of a “bleeding-heart liberal” but one of a minister who has studied what works. As he said in his speech yesterday:
We recognise that arts activities can play a valuable role in helping offenders to address issues such as communication problems and low self-esteem and enabling them to engage in programmes that address their offending behaviour.
After Ken Clarke’s thoughtful declaration that we need to reduce the number of criminals sent to prison, it’s a pity to see the government revert to type.
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