The Howard League for Penal Reform has been a constant thorn in the flesh of Justice Secretary Chris Grayling. He regards it as a left wing pressure group forever trying to frustrate his plans. There is nothing particularly left wing, however, about objecting to men being raped in gaol, the subject of the League’s latest report. According to data taken from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons “between 850 to 1,650 prisoners” could be raped or sexually assaulted each year.
It is true that the figure is vague but the main reason for that is that Mr Grayling, in stark contrast to his predecessor Ken Clarke, refused to allow prisoners to co-operate with it. Rather than discover the truth, Grayling is reported to have said bluntly: “prisoners aren’t going to have sex on my watch,” conjuring up a creepy image of the Justice Secretary slinking along the Scrubs landings, occasionally pressing a puffy eye to a Judas hole to make sure his no sex edict is not being flouted. Continue reading “Grayling’s “Spartan but Humane” Prisons: Rape, Vermin, Overcrowding, Violence, Idleness and Suicide.”