Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, commenting on the Howard League for Penal Reform report on sexual violence in prisons, said:

“While the prisons crisis deepens, the Justice Secretary continues to deny there’s any problems. What’s more, he is blocking others from research which he knows would expose the mess he’s presiding over.

“Despite his best actions, this report has still managed to lift the lid on the shocking levels of sexual violence going on in our jails. But burying heads in the sand, as David Cameron’s Government is doing, won’t sort this out.

“Successfully rehabilitating criminals to stop them going on to create more victims of crime on their release will be all the more hard if prisons are places of lawlessness and violence.”