Who will take responsibility for our appalling prisons?

We know our prison system is awash with drugs but just what are they smoking at the Ministry of Justice? A shocking story in the Times yesterday revealed what a desperate state Britain’s jails are in. Paul Morgan-Bentley, an undercover reporter, was hired at breakneck speed to work as a uniformed Operational Support Grade (OSG) escort at beleaguered HMP Bedford. He lifted the lid on a security nightmare.

A catalogue of errors and incompetence emerged. He wasn’t security cleared before starting his sensitive post. He had access to prisoners in this Category B jail after a day’s training where even his tutor complained of a ‘pandemic’ of unlocked security gates. On two occasions, scanners at the gate were completely unmanned, allowing him and dozens of other workers to walk straight in off the street into the heart of the prison potentially carrying anything from a mobile phone to a firearm.