20 August 2004
Michael Howard's decision to take on the government over law and order earned him the approval of the Right-wing press and applause for daring to speak the unspeakable.
In a speech in Middlesbrough on August 10, the Tory leader lambasted Labour's criminal justice management as the 'politics of the madhouse'. He painted a picture of police and courts hamstrung by political correctness while youths run wild, sticking two fingers up at authority.
Boasting of his record as home secretary, he promised that a Howard premiership would deliver more of the same, spelling the end of 'politically correct' policing, the early release scheme and the 80,000 cap on the prison population.
'A hard core of criminals commit most of the crime in Britain today. If they are behind bars they cannot commit more crime,' Howard said.
'It's not a question of if we build new prisons – it is a question of how many new prisons we build and what kind of prisons they are.'
But it's not as if Labour has been soft on offenders. Under its stewardship, the prison population in England and Wales has increased from around 55,000 in 1996 to more than 74,000, now – the highest per capita in the European Union.
This increase has been driven not by rising crime, which has actually fallen by more than 35% since the mid-1990s, or because more criminals are being caught, but because sentences have become increasingly severe. In 1991, just 15% of those found guilty of an indictable offence received a prison sentence. By 2001 this had risen to 25%.
Rob Allen, director of the think-tank Rethinking Crime and Punishment, singles out the climate of opinion in politics and the media as the real reason behind the explosion in the prison population.
'Policies have got tougher because that's what the public demand,' he says. 'There are arguments for looking to reduce the numbers in prison and investing more in trying to develop more robust alternatives to short-term sentences but it's very difficult in the current political climate.'
Allen's view is borne out by the review of correctional services conducted for the government by business executive Patrick Carter. His report, at the start of the year, noted: 'Behind this [increase in severe sentencing] there has been the interaction between public perception, media, politicians and sentencers. This interplay has helped to drive up the severity of sentencing.'
But politicians may be overestimating the punitive nature of the man on the Clapham omnibus. Mori research commissioned by Rethinking Crime and Punishment found that only 2% of respondents said they would choose to tackle crime by building more prisons. The most popular option was crime prevention work targeted at the young people most at risk.
Although the government continues to fence with the Tories by making noisy pronouncements about antisocial behaviour and police powers, creative and thoughtful criminal justice policies are set to emerge.
Carter's report marks something of a turning point in criminal justice policy and the Home Office has been quietly taking forward his recommendations. Greater use is to be made of community sentencing and fines for low-level crimes, with an emphasis on offenders making reparation to the community they have damaged. Prison capacity is to be used in a 'consistent and cost-effective' way and the prison and probation services are to be merged to ensure 'end-to-end' management of offenders.
In addition, the Reducing reoffending national action plan, published last month, will put in place regional strategies for better co-operation between education, training, health care and housing services to help former offenders settle into a new life.
And, of course, there is the ever-present question of resources. Allen maintains that investing in resettlement programmes and ensuring that probation officers have smaller caseloads would be a more sensible way of spending money. The government believes that both the private and voluntary sectors can make important contributions to community-based offender management.
Howard, on the other hand, acknowledged that his prison-building programme would cost money but added that it was a price worth paying for public protection.
With less than a year to go before the next general election, we won't have to wait long to see which view is most in tune with the public.
PFaug2004
