Dirty Old Man in raincoat questioned by police about his relationship with boyish looking LibDem

I have not bothered to include points one to three (anyone interested can click the title and it will link to the original piece), as they are not relevant here. This comedy duo, are making the claim that they can achieve what the Tories and Labour have failed to achieve, that is, make prisons work. Tony Blair took the centre ground from the Tories, forcing the Tories to move Left in an attempt to recapture the lost ground. Now the LibDems are moving to the Right and pitching their tent on the ground that the Tories have vacated. What Menzies Campbell and Nick Clegg are proposing, are policies advocated by Anne Widdecombe MP, who was the Prisons Minister under Michael Howard MP, one of the worst Home Secretary's in the Tory Party, and one of the worst in recent penal history.


"Point four, we will make prison work. The current situation fails both the prisoner and society. Prisoners who do not participate in education or training are three times more likely to go back to crime. Yet well over half of offenders receive no training. And only one in five of prisoners exceed the standards expected of an 11 year old in writing.

Instead, we will treble the number of prisoners working, and make education and training compulsory. And for those with serious mental health problems there will be increased provision of secure mental health services. We can foster skills amongst our prison population and create opportunities for those who would otherwise return to a life of crime. That is why Liberal Democrats say that we can cut crime.

Point five, we will introduce an entirely new approach to compensating victims of crime. It will be fairer. It will be simpler. And it will be swifter. It is only fair that money raised by prisoners in employment should go towards compensating their victims. Prisoners shouldn't sit in their cells for twenty three hours a day: they ought to be engaged in work that is productive and useful.

By making prisoners do real work for a real wage, we can also instil a sense of responsibility, enhance their skills and ensure that victims are properly compensated. Prisoners will literally pay for their crimes, whilst gaining the skills and experiences needed to dissuade them from further offences".

Suddenly, the talk went from making prison work to making prisoners work! There is a big legal problem with their idea. And that is, that there is nothing fair about robbing prisoners who are entitled to receive the National Minimum Wage for their labours, and giving it to people who have not worked for it. Prisoners are already paying for their crimes, by loss of liberty, what Winston Churchill termed "the hard coin of the realm". Nobody can be punished twice for the same offence.

I don't want to hear silly ideas like this. These are not policies, but soundbites. And soundbites that are toothless. Want I want to hear is how do they plan to overcome the legal obstacles in the path of such fancy ideas. Over to you Ming and Nick...