The Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke made headlines this week with his inflammatory rhetoric about a “feral underclass” charged with instigating the recent riots in Britain. However in amongst his comments about the “criminal classes” of Britain there was a serious point about how the British people are being failed by our criminal justice system. An unbelievable 73% of young men who have been to prison will reoffend within a year of their release, not because they are feral members of a criminal class but because their time in prison destroys any opportunities they may have had for gainful employment and leaves them ill-equipped to re-enter society. To his credit, Clarke has recognised this and during his time as Justice Secretary has sought to promote prison as a place of rehabilitation rather than simply incarceration.
