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Prison expansion plans will be an expensive disaster

October 6, 2009 12:00 AM

Commenting on the Prison Governors Association's proposal to scrap prison sentences of less than a year in order to bring down the prison population, Jenny Willott, Welsh Liberal Democrat MP for Cardiff Central, said:

"Even the people managing prisons think that the race between Labour and the Tories to see who is toughest will be an expensive disaster.

"The evidence shows that short term prison sentences are not an effective deterrent, are extremely expensive and almost ensure criminals re-offend.

"We must start to bring down the number of people in prison before we move even closer to a US style penal system with world record numbers behind bars.

"Labour and the Tories' playground bravado on prison sentences must end. We need to focus on what works on cutting crime with a presumption against short term sentences in favour of rigorous community penalties and restorative justice."

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