As we all know, a week is a long time in politics and the fallout from the riots seem set to erode yet further many of the laudable aims embraced by Ken Clarke's 'Rehabilitation Revolution.' First to go of course was the 50% reduction in sentence for a timely guilty plea. Then the riots served to focus attention on the whole business of granting bail pending conviction with a widespread suspicion that refusal to grant bail in over 60% of cases was being used as a punishment in itself and strictly not allowed.
Of course in many quarters - lets call them the usual suspects - this has met with warm approval, thus making tinkering with the operation of the bail system less likely. Ken had hoped to be able to restrict remands into custody as one part of his strategy to reduce the prison population, but getting that aspect through Parliament now looks doubtful. Now it seems that the Prime Minister is so concerned about the Daily Mail and Express that he feels it important that the 'Rehabilitation Revolution' becomes the 'Rehabilitation and Punishment Revolution.' The suspicion is that all kinds of extra punishment options might find there way into the bill, like benefit removal and housing eviction. How this will assist with rehabilitation I have absolutely no idea.
I've always had a great deal of respect for normally plain-speaking Ken Clarke. Lets be honest, any politician that incurs the wrath of the right-wing press can't be all bad in my book. The trouble is he absolutely detests the Probation Service and just like a disgruntled son-in-law who can't bring himself to talk about the mother-in-law, simply never mentions us. I listened to him again recently being interviewed on BBC 2's Newsnight and all he could bring himself to say somewhat tardily was 'there are some good probation and prison officers.' But that was in the same breath as his repeated desire to put all our work out to tender in the private sector. He normally fails to mention us at all which you can imagine does nothing for morale. Where is that White Knight coming to our aid when you need him?
The problem with Probation and politics is that the concepts attached to offender rehabilitation require a level of abstract thinking and deferred gratification that are difficult to sell to a public that wants everything now. The average Joe comprehends the concept of prison; lock 'em up and they can't do any harm, right? (Seems there are no assaults, murders, rapes, thefts, threatening words and behaviour, drug dealing, harassment....etc in Prisons). But try and sell them the idea of reduction (as opposed to elimination) of reoffending or the concept of incremental improvement over time and you are doomed. I understand, from an insider source, that the regional DOMs office struggled for some time to comprehend the concept of public protection (thinking it meant fences and CCTV). If they struggled, what chance have we got with the millions of voters who lap up Corrie, the X Factor and Big Brother?
ReplyDeleteWhat we need are politicians with the courage to acknowledge that, sometimes, 'the mob' are wrong.