I don't believe it! Daniel Finkelstein the Comment Editor of The Times is lost for words. Has he got one foot in the grave, or is there some other explanation why he has gagged himself? Apparently, it was this which led to him choking on his words. I am wondering if this cop out is down to his ignorance of the subject?
Let's take his headline "They ran out of prisons, I ran out of words". Given that there are approximately 140 prisons in the penal estate, I would hardly say that that constitutes running out of prisons. I would say that that is an abundance of prisons. So, what on earth could the grumpy old man be on about then? His starting point is this: "Hundreds of dangerous prisoners could be freed from jail because of “disastrous” failings by the Government when it introduced a new prison sentence, a High Court judge said yesterday". Ok, so the Judiciary fires a warning shot across the bows of the Executive. This is a constitutional issue, and as such is a complex issue. Daneil Finkelstein auditions for the lead role in It's A Simple Life. And here's his script: "The failure of the government to build sufficient prisons to support its sentencing policy is massive, scandalous and also incredibly straightforward. As a result there is little to say except to gasp with disbelief and shake with fury".
As I have already pointed out the size of the penal estate is sufficient. If I understand what Daniel is trying to say, if he could get the words out, is that if we build more prisons we could put more prisoners in them. Yes, lets go for it. And rename Britain, let's say, Alcatraz. We can build our way out of the problem, is that it Daniel? Like we don't cut out a cancer, we just let it get bigger and bigger...
On the other hand, I would say that it is not the number of prisons that is the problem, that is, that we haven't got enough. Rather, we have got too many. And, too many prisoners within those prisons. The Criminal Justice Act 2003 which introduced the Indeterminate Public Protection sentences is fundamentally flawed. And, it is this that has led to the clash between the Judiciary and the Executive. It is an arm wrestling competition between two arms of the State. The third arm, Parliament, will need to intervene to resolve the dispute.
Glad I could be of some assistance, Daniel, and I hope you find your voice again soon...
I found the story of Finklestein very tragic, especialy the end where he was so sorry at what he had done to his maker and greatly lamented the fact. He then vowed to commit suicide and left the ship that he was on by leaping through the cabin window onto an ice floe, and was never seen again. So tragic.
ReplyDeleteOh sorry, I meant Frankenstein. My mistake.