Labour condemn shock new prison violence statistics

Labour have condemned the “Tory prison crisis” as new Ministry of Justice figures reveal that self-harm, deaths in custody and serious attacks on staff have all spiked in the last twelve months.

There have been more homicides in prison in the last three years (13) than there were in the seven years prior (9).

Serious assaults on prison staff have gone up 31% to 625 in just one year.

Despite this in January Michael Gove insisted that he “would not use the word crisis” to describe the situation in our prisons.

Responding to the figures Labour’s Shadow Minister for Prisons, Jo Stevens, said;

“These shocking figures have blown the lid off Michael Gove’s claims that he is the man to deal with the worsening Tory prison crisis. Now we know that the Government’s own statistics reveal that rates of self-harm, homicides and serious assaults on staff have surged.

“This paints a picture of a system in total meltdown and on the verge of collapse. How can it be right that hardworking prison staff are expected to put up with such a toxic workplace environment? David Cameron’s Government must immediately act to address the prison crisis which they have caused through their failure to deal with staff shortages, overcrowding and a complete breakdown of any sense of safety in our prisons.”