UK cuts threatening social norms

Growing number of prisons’ population in the UK has sounded the alarms in the country. Rights activists blame the trend on the UK austerity measures saying the government must take serious the social consequences of its economic policies.

“It’s one of the consequences of government’s policy. British government’s economic policies and certainly the austerity budget of the UK are contributing to the trend.. Huge cuts leave their impacts on the common justice services right across the country,” London-based political commentator Lee Jasper told Press TV.

Jaspers went on noting that austerity budget have their own impacts on the society.

“The main factors behind are two-fold. One, there has been huge cuts to the budget of Ministry of Justice, closing down a number of prison facilities and secondly the consequences of austerity economics.”

He blamed the coalition government of publishing wrong figures on the crime rate in the country and said:” Well it’s interesting that according to the coalition government recorded crime is going down, and yet we seem to have more people in our jails than ever before. The reason for that is that we have people who have mental illness in jail, people who are in jail for other reasons that they are in poverty and in debt, we have people who are getting disproportionate sentences for minor crimes, all of which is leading to these massive and huge over-fillings of our prison establishments.”

The analyst also urged the government to adopt appropriate measures in dealing with issues like the growing number of prisons’ population saying the justice departments are more focused on punishment than retribution.

He emphasized that the current situation would end up in bitter social problems in future saying: “As you know when you’ve got large numbers of people in prison… and they’re locked up in their prison cells for 23 hours a day … when their visits from their families and loved ones are curtailed because there are no prison guards to facilitate family visits, you end up with a prison population who upon their release into wider society, and with probably soaring rage by their treatment in prison, has to then go on and commit further serious crimes.”

Jaspers warned that the politicians are now busy with preparations for upcoming general elections adding:”I think we may have to wait until the general election in May before any serious political priority is given to tackling this issue.”