Private Prisons in Warwickshire

In light of Panorama's undercover sting at privately-run Rye Hill Prison (between Coventry and Rugby), Mark Serwotka's letter in the Guardian today is timely. Serwotka is the General Secretrary of the PCS (Public and Commercial Services) union.

There is no evidence that privateers have brought about "innovations in prison design and improved rehabilitation." Britain already has the most privatised prison system in Europe ... Private prisons constantly feature in some of the most critical prisons inspectorate reports and rely on using fewer staff, lower wages and less employment protection for their profits. The answer is not to award £300m-plus contracts to the private sector to build more prisons; it is to invest in measures within the public-sector prison service that will reduce reoffending: improved drug and alcohol treatments and instructional officers delivering prison education and workshops.

The idea of making profits from the incarceration of offenders is morally wrong. If the state takes someone's liberty away, the state should take responsibility for them, not contract it out.