We must change a system akin to Orwellian doom

And on a Saturday afternoon in the East End of London most were going about their chores uninterrupted. Among this bustling community there was an intruder, someone who was doing everything he could to create a scene.

Five pints and a bottle of whisky later, the local bobbies popped along to detain a rather worse for wear fish porter whose name was given as Edward Burton.

Charged with being drunk and incapable, he was to spend the next 48 hours behind bars. When he emerged, Eric Arthur Blair used his experiences to write a book which educated generations to come about the squalid, horrible and subhuman conditions facing those in jail.

The book was Down and Out in Paris and London, the author better known as George Orwell.

Nearly a century on the book continues to be held up as the perfect commentary on the English underworld, a layer of society that those making the decisions just wanted to ignore.

Like Orwell, I too have first-hand experience of life at Her Majesty’s pleasure. Well, I’ve been inside one once.

It was about 15 years ago and to bring a bit of Christmas cheer to the inmates, the brass band I was in took a trip to the nearby open prison to play some festive tunes to the inmates. Not that I played much as I was too busy laughing at a friend who kept on taking time out in the middle of pieces to go and look at the pictures of scantily clad women hung by inmates on the cell walls.

I came away thinking that prison wasn’t all that bad – not just because of that memory but there seemed to be so much to do and so many people who wanted to offer those in there a helping hand.

The impression back then was that those who entered as criminals came out as people reformed and ready to contribute to wider society. The reality in 2016 is a little different.

Most will agree that civil society requires some level of deterrence and a place to lock up those who are dangerous to others. But that does not mean those in prisons should be treated like fourth class citizens.

From the broken windows in the the drab outdated buildings to the broken minds of those held within, the current justice system is clearly failing.

Every week we hear reports of chronic overcrowding, acute staff shortages, prisons awash with drugs of all kinds as well as illicit mobile phones aplenty. Statistics for suicide and self harm are climbing while I gather tension between frontline staff and prisoners is running at a constant high with violence a regular occurrence.

I say gather as for the last few years, Government officials have been less than willing to welcome any guests into HMPs across the UK.

Journalists, MPs, even crime author Martina Cole have all asked to visit our local jail at Lewes but have been left standing outside the gates, presumably because what’s going on inside even Alastair Campbell would struggle to put a positive spin on.

At present, the Ministry of Justice claims nearly half – 46 per cent – of all prisoners are re-convicted of a crime within a year of being released. That figure rises to 60 per cent for those serving short sentences.

The financial costs to society of reoffending have been estimated at up to £13 billion each year. But just like back in Orwell’s time, it seems those who are responsible for overseeing this very necessary part of a civil society are completely removed from it. That was until this week, when the Government announced it would be leading the greatest social overhaul of the prison system since the Victorian period.

Perhaps the disturbing thing for those who subscribe to Orwellian mantra is that it will be led by a Conservative, namely Michael Gove. That’s the same Michael Gove who many parents wanted locked up for the way he widened out the academies programme in schools. The Michael Gove who was one of the Prime Minister’s best friends until he stood on the opposite side of the fence on the EU debate. Like Eric Blair he too was a journalist and is now turning his attention to social change.

But unlike Orwell, Gove needs to do more than a bit of pretending and turn his words into fully fledged reform.

A shocking story came across my desktop this past week.

British firm Intelligent Environments has launched a platform which can link a wristband, which delivers a 255 volt shock, to a bank account.

If the funds in the account go below an agreed limit, the band kicks in.

Given the average personal debt in the country is £10,000, pretty much everyone you pass while shopping would be wriggling, jumping, squealing and screaming all the way to their bank manager if this craze takes off.