High Peak Liberal Democrats

Clegg joins two former home secretaries to call for halving of prison population

Nick Clegg has joined Ken Clarke, a former Conservative home secretary, and Jacqui Smith, a former Labour home secretary, in a letter to The Times calling for the prison population to be reduced to the levels seen under Margaret Thatcher, the effect of which would be to broadly halve the number of people incarcerated. Here is the letter:

Sir, The recent violent unrest at HMP Birmingham is a wake-up call for this country. Our prisons have become unacceptably dangerous places, with a 31 per cent increase in assaults in the past year alone. Every three days a prisoner kills themselves.

The three of us know, having served in different capacities in different governments, that all governments, of whatever political persuasion, have failed to grasp this nettle for far too long. Since Michael Howard coined the phrase "prison works" in 1993, the prison population in England and Wales has nearly doubled to more than 85,000. Yet almost half of adults are re-convicted within one year of release from prison. So the system is not serving victims of crime or properly protecting our communities either.

We believe that an escalating prison population has gone well beyond what is safe or sustainable. To restore order, security and purpose to our jails, ministers should now make it their policy to reduce prison numbers. We want to see the prison population returned to the levels it was under Margaret Thatcher. That would mean eventually reducing prison numbers to about 45,000.

If the tide is not turned soon, the prisons crisis will do untold damage to wider society.

Nick Clegg MP;

Kenneth Clarke MP, justice secretary 2010-12, home secretary 1992-93;

Jacqui Smith, home secretary 2007-09

You can also hear an interview with Nick from Thursday's Today programme here (beginning at 1hr 51mins 51 secs).

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