He is officially back. Jack Straw that is. He has come up with an ingenious solution to prison overcrowding problem too. Instead of building our way out of the problem - i.e. building more prison space - we should just not send so many people to prison. What a brilliant idea - I can not believe no-one had come up with this before. So good in fact, that it got me thinking. How about we take this a step further? How about we just ask everyone nicely to stop committing so many crimes? Even easier, how about we legalise all those time prison cell consuming crimes like robbery, violent crime, rape, murder? That'll free up the cells a treat. In the meantime, Mr Straw has called for a “national conversation” about the use of prison. A what? Has the man gone mad?
The simple answer is no. He is trying to cover the incredible cock up that everyone has seen coming for years now - that being the government ignored all the advice that prisons will fill up in a few years and you should get on with building some now. Well, that boat has sailed and now the government is trying to claim that prison was never the answer in the first and therefore they haven't cocked up. Well, prison is the answer and you have cocked up, I’m afraid.