Leaders | Trials and errors

Britain’s prisons show up wider flaws in government

The entire criminal-justice system is under strain

The granite entrance gate of Dartmoor prison in Princetown, Dartmoor
Image: Panos

No long-term planning. Disjointed decision-making. Tension between expert advice and political calculation. The covid-19 inquiry has been the best place this week to see the flaws in Britain’s government laid bare. Largely hidden from public view lies another: a crisis in the country’s prisons. Those same factors have left some parts of the criminal-justice system close to breakdown.

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This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Trials and errors”

From the November 4th 2023 edition

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