Less time, less crime
From our UK edition
I have a confession to make. In 18 years in government, I have never come up with a policy that was instantly popular. Today, as Justice Secretary, my job is to mend Britain’s broken prison system and make it less expensive. My proposals have prompted widespread criticism, not least from The Spectator, which said recently on its leader page that decreasing the number of prisoners in Britain will lead to more crime. I disagree. Our prisons are expensive and dysfunctional — but they do not have to be. Labour introduced 21 criminal justice acts, which increased the cost of prisons by two thirds and sent the prison population soaring. Their attempt to outflank the right on law and order became a shambles. They ran out of cells in both prisons and police stations.