Westminster Insider cover image

Westminster Insider

How did Britain's prisons go so wrong?

Dec 15, 2023
43:51

Host Aggie Chambre explores the crisis in Britain's prison system and asks what can be done to fix it. 

She goes inside a prison riddled with drugs and violence, and hears from the governor and from long-serving inmates about what's really going on. 

Justice Secretary Alex Chalk sets out his plan to overhaul the sector, and why he believes part of the answer is to stop handing out jail terms for less serious crimes. 

Former Tory leader Michael Howard relives his famous "prison works" speech of 1993 and considers whether he would make the same speech again today. 

Aggie meets Charlie Taylor, Britain's chief inspector of prisons. He tells her of the harrowing scenes he has witnessed in prisons around the U.K. this past year.

And the Howard League's Andrea Coomber, a prison reform campaigner, calls for politicians to be brave in explaining to the public that prison does not work the way they think it does. 


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
App store bannerPlay store banner

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode