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The Ministry of Justice is committed to “drug-free wings” — a concept the public find baffling, and hardly a sign of real ambition. Surely all prisons should be free of drugs? Reassuringly, in response to the disclosure, the new head of the Prison Service, Michael Spurr, was not defensive and resolved to give the issue the attention it deserves: “I am absolutely clear there are corrupt staff; I am absolutely clear we have to tackle that and not pretend it doesn’t exist.”
We need to learn from other countries that have tackled this problem because, if we don’t, there is no hope of creating the more purposeful prison service that will deliver the Coalition Government’s laudable rehabilitation drive. You cannot have drug-free, employable, ex-prisoners while you have drug infested prisons.
Blair Gibbs is the Head of Crime & Justice at the think-tank Policy Exchange.
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