News on the domestic front

Iam64

I appreciate not everyone shares my lasting horror at the damage Austerity caused

The long-term impact of these cuts is now being felt. I understand why they were considered necessary but, as usual, those with the least often bore the greater burden.

... Schools, Hospitals, Justice
... Local Government and Municipal Care
... Transport and Energy

Who hasn't to some degree or other, been affected in these sectors, either through the cutting of capital investment - or decimated budgets?

I appreciate not everyone shares my lasting horror at the damage Austerity caused. In criminal justice the disastrous privatisation of the Probation Service, schemes aimed at alternatives to prison closed. redundancy for senior police and prison officers taking much needed experience to support newer recruits. Court timetables further and further behind.
Youth work, family support units, mental health, drug and alcohol treatment units, all decimated.
Prevention, more focus on rehabilitation all confirmed by research to be more effective than prison. HMP is necessary to protect society of course but the focus needs to move from punishment to prevention. It’s financially expensive to try to repair years of underfunding and rejection of research. It’s financially and socially expensive to continue getting it so wrong

Not HMO, HMP 😡

+Whitewavemark2* they (Conservatives) commissioned new prisons and spaces.
HMO Five Wells opened in 2022, HMO Fosse Way opened in 2023.

Along with planning/development groundwork for sites like HMO Millsike, Yorkshire, alongside projects in Leicestershire and Buckinghamshire.

Slow delivery and over budget estimates that the full 20,000 target will not be completed until 2031 , 5 years later than the original estimate/plan.

Source AI

GrannyGravy13

Whitewavemark2

Pity they didn’t speak out when it was becoming ever more clear during the Tory government that prison spaces was a crtitical issue!

Were they considering releasing those guilty of manslaughter, in particular a serving police officer?

I don’t know - but what I am saying that the right wing press had little to say about the issue which caused the crises of spaces during the Tory government.

Whitewavemark2

Pity they didn’t speak out when it was becoming ever more clear during the Tory government that prison spaces was a crtitical issue!

Were they considering releasing those guilty of manslaughter, in particular a serving police officer?

Pity they didn’t speak out when it was becoming ever more clear during the Tory government that prison spaces was a crtitical issue!

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Without the power of the press- largely the DT - this u-turn would never have happened. Momentum was gathered through good journalism (several newspapers).

😄😄

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Without the power of the press- largely the DT - this u-turn would never have happened. Momentum was gathered through good journalism (several newspapers).

Yes the press were instrumental in this decision along with a U.K. population now ready, willing and able to voice its displeasure at Government (any government) and its decisions.

NotSpaghetti

I understood that the lack of prison staff is why in some places we have empty prison beds.
Is this wrong?

There has been understaffing in prisons for years.

There are also 1,000’s of prison cells empty due to maintenance issues according to AI.

When you add in inadequate staffing levels, you get to the current issues with the prison service.

Without the power of the press- largely the DT - this u-turn would never have happened. Momentum was gathered through good journalism (several newspapers).

I understood that the lack of prison staff is why in some places we have empty prison beds.
Is this wrong?

There has been understaffing in prisons for years.

Our prisons are at 98% capacity source BBC this morning, news)

After airing the interview with Andy Burnham, there was another expert who said that this will now mean less people convicted or another group of offenders put forward for early release.

I read somewhere that those in prison for manslaughter amounted to a total of 150 - not an impossible number to accommodate I would have thought.

eazybee

I am concerned about who will be released in their stead.

The reason for all these early releases is that there is insufficient accommodation for all the prisoners currently held, so, who will be released to make space?

We don’t know that, that will be the case. That is supposition.

I am concerned about who will be released in their stead.

The reason for all these early releases is that there is insufficient accommodation for all the prisoners currently held, so, who will be released to make space?

Butterandjam you must live somewhere really remote and maybe near a river so at danger of floods or somewhere in danger of wildfires, unlike most people in the UK so it makes sense for you do that.
It always is a good idea for all of us to keep torches/camping gas stoves/ and tinned goods in the house for power cuts but for the vast majority of us we do not require grab bags and never have done.

Just heard that on the news, the right decision! No prisoners being held for manslaughter will be released early, I can’t believe they were even thinking that it would be right to release them in the first place.

PC Harper’s killers will not be released under the early release scheme. The law has been tweaked.

Oreo

greyfur16

I don't understand this grab bag thing. Grab it and go where? To a local Sports Centre when we are invaded or what?

It’s just nonsense isn’t it?

In the light of climate change, people have had to evacuate their homes in a hurry under huge stress during wildfires, because of subsidence, floods. Imagine doing that in the dark; at high speed and no notice.

We've maintained a grab-bag for 40 years since living in a rural house with no mains water.The rural "retained" fire service's "free home safety survey" advice was "If ever you have a domestic fire here, high risk of total burnout. We'd arrive too late with a limited supply in the tank. Just get out fast and do NOT go back in the building" The grab bag contains a zipped plastic file with photocopies of insurance policy, banks, assets, lawyers, birth certs and passports,list of medications, important contacts.

Also from living in the sticks/ miles from shops/on a small island/ with the frequency of winter road closures, long power cuts, no ferries, frozen or broken private water supply, we always have a stash of basic supplies; tinned food, first aid. Candles, battery lights and radio, camp stove, buckets, thermal clothes;some cash.

Remember the farmers oil blockade; no petrol, empty supermarkets. Or rollimg power cuts ; mains water failures; lockdown. It's all happened before.

Iam64

Andy Burnham’s father has some form of dementia. Assisted dying may well be something he and his family are actively discussing. It may be something he wants to avoid public discussions about currently

Unfortunately, by his recent declaration, he will be the subject of public discussions. QED

Andy Burnham’s father has some form of dementia. Assisted dying may well be something he and his family are actively discussing. It may be something he wants to avoid public discussions about currently

Galaxy

I think the statement he made about palliative care/ assisted dying recently was an indication though.

But didn't he make it to a Catholic newspaper?

I could be wrong but I'm fairly sure...

Galaxy

I think the statement he made about palliative care/ assisted dying recently was an indication though.

Perhaps but I think many of us support assisted dying because we fear the nature of our death rather than the death itself and better palliative care might take some of that fear away. I support the right to an assisted death if someone really wants to end their life that way but I also strongly support better access to good palliative care as a way of enabling people to have a better death. One of my closest friends died in her early 50's, her suffering was difficult to witness and went on for several months. TBH I wished I could have given her a much quicker death and I'm glad she never asked that of me. I don't know if she would have chosen an assisted death but I would have wished her to have the choice.

I think the statement he made about palliative care/ assisted dying recently was an indication though.