As the country emerges from ‘lockdown’, prisoners remain subject to a highly restricted regime.
As of 24 July:
- 565 prisoners and 984 staff members have been affected by the virus;
- 23 prisoners and 9 staff members have died, along with 21 people on probation;
- 242 prisoners have been released under the two Covid-19 release schemes, including 23 pregnant women or women with babies, and 27 prisoners with chronic health conditions.
On 23 June Secretary of State for Justice Robert Buckland told the parliamentary Justice Committee that the original plans to release far larger numbers were just one part of a strategy; the other part of which is ‘increasing capacity’, ie adding yet more prison places.
On 9 July the government announced that private contractor G4S was the ‘preferred bidder’ for a new ‘mega-prison’ at Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. G4S remains a government favourite despite its litany of disasters, including running Birmingham prison so badly it was taken back into state hands and mismanaging electronic tagging to the degree it has just been fined £44m by the Serious Fraud Office.
The government has been maintaining a locked-down regime in prisons, while tooling up prison staff to respond to any sign of resistance or frustration among prisoners. Despite the reintroduction of visits in some prisons, under strict ‘no-contact’ conditions, many prisoners remain confined to their cells for up to 23½ hours a day, without access to education, library, gym or other meaningful activities. Their frustration has not yet turned into co-ordinated protest, but the spectre that it may do is being exploited by the Prison Officers’ Association, which has constantly pushed for more weaponry for its members. The planned rolling out of PAVA incapacitant spray to prison staff has been speeded up and it is now available in 81 prisons, despite many officers not having been trained in using this dangerous substance.
Nicki Jameson
FIGHT RACISM! FIGHT IMPERIALISM! 277 August/September 2020
