Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, responding to the Ministry of Justice decision to abandon privatising the South Yorkshire prisons cluster, said:
“This is a humiliating climbdown which shows the danger of being over reliant on a private monopoly to run vast swathes of the justice system.
“David Cameron and Chris Grayling’s plans for the prison system are in tatters. Their talk of a rehabilitation revolution is nothing but a pipe-dream. The severe shortage of prison places combined with cuts in staff is causing huge problems and is putting public safety at risk.
“This Tory-led Government should listen to expert advice and also suspend their half-baked privatisation of the probation service. Experts, those running probation trusts and the Ministry of Justice’s own internal risk register warn the Government’s plans to put supervision of serious and violent offenders in the hands of G4S, Serco and the like will put public safety at risk.“