Ashwell may have been the first major prison riot for some time but we would be fooling ourselves if we think it cannot happen again elsewhere, argues Tory Edward Garnier

This Easter weekend was not a happy one for Jack Straw, the secretary of state for justice, whose job it is to ensure our prisons are, to coin a phrase, fit for purpose.

At HMP Ashwell there was a prolonged episode of what the Ministry of Justice calls “concerted ill-discipline” which began in the small hours of Saturday morning and ended 20 hours later with 420 prisoners (two thirds of the total) being shipped out to other jails and more than 70 per cent of the prison buildings damaged and unusable.

Congratulations are due to the governor and prison officers for bringing the riot to a conclusion without loss of life or serious injury and for ensuring that the perimeter remained secure throughout the disturbance despite the fire and other extensive damage.

Working in our prisons is never easy and those who risk so much to ensure the safety of the prisoners in their care receive little, if any, public recognition of the value of the difficult and sometimes dangerous work they perform on behalf of the public.

It has regrettably been one of the hallmarks of this government, although this secretary of state is not the worst example, that they have denigrated public servants such as prison and probation officers but then expected them to work willingly and without complaint.

Our prisons are woefully overcrowded and are consequently extremely difficult to manage and dangerous places to work in – the level of prisoner on officer violence and prisoner on prisoner violence has escalated over the last decade as the prison population has grown from 61,000 to over 83,000 without a corresponding increase in the capacity of the prison estate.

Prisoner suicides are common and the illegal use of drugs and alcohol is endemic. The re-offending rate of released prisoners of both sexes and all age groups is far too high and shows no sign of coming down.

Ashwell may have been the first major prison riot for some time but we would be fooling ourselves if we think it cannot happen again elsewhere.

It is a matter of great relief and of some significance that, despite the way the government behaves as the employer of prison staff, there have not been more such incidents in our prisons. The government should initiate an inquiry into the riot at Ashwell by an external commission, not internally by the Prison Service.

There needs to be a detailed review of the strategic political leadership and management of the entire prison system in addition to the causes of this particular disturbance which stands as a reminder of the government’s failure to manage, to plan and to proceed competently.

Not least we must know how many of the 420 prisoners removed from Ashwell had been sent there from other, more secure prisons in order to relieve overcrowding and what warnings were given to Mr Straw of impending trouble.

We need prisons that are more than human warehouses. They should be places where serious offenders are kept safely and learn to reform, to take responsibility for their acts and omissions and become, through carrying out real rehabilitation, training and education, employable citizens on release.

Overcrowding is the rock on which the custodial system is foundering and until this government stops dealing with every problem retrospectively as though taken by surprise, be it drugs, illiteracy, mental illness, overcrowding and the churning of inmates from prison to prison making it impossible for them to achieve what they need to before release, things will not get better.

They are wasting lives and taxpayers’ money and they are threatening the security of the law-abiding.

Edward Garnier QC MP is shadow minister for justice

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