Blimey

It's not often I agree with "Good-hearted Harry" Fletcher of NAPO, the probation officers union.

'Over the last few years the government has failed to deal with the looming prison crisis,' said Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of Napo, the probation officers' union. 'Successive predictions produced by statisticians in the Home Office have indicated that the prison population would surge past 80,000 by 2007. Despite the warnings, the government has not commissioned further prison places, changed the law so that fewer people go to prison or provided adequate resources for probation.'

Obviously I'd prefer option 1 and Mr Fletcher would like option 3. Looks like we're going to get option 2 - but without any change in the law, which would have to be debated and voted on.



(More on prison, probation and community service here.)