Gangs hold such influence over jails ‘it keeps me awake at night’, says Timpson
Organised criminal gangs who “corrupt” staff and enforce drug debts with violence hold such a huge influence over jails across England and Wales that it “keeps me awake at night”, the prisons minister has said.James Timpson told the Guardian that Prison Service staff who worked with criminal gangs to smuggle drugs and contraband into jails were being targeted by a “beefed up” counter-corruption unit that last year prosecuted 37 officers.His comments follow deepening concerns from prison watchdogs that criminal gangs are taking control of prisons – a claim Lord Timpson rejects.Criminologists have said the gangs are targeting and corrupting inexperienced officers.Timpson said in an interview: “Serious organised crime is a big problem, a huge problem, and it’s one of the things that keeps me awake at night, because of the impact it has on a prison’s environment, from drugs, debt, violence and everything that goes with that.
“They [organised criminal gangs] corrupt both men and women to bring in drugs,And a lot of these serious organised criminals are in their cells at night, they’re actually very, very wealthy people and are connected with very big illegal businesses,”Police and the National Crime Agency were working with the counter-corruption unit to identify connections between gangs and prison officers, he said, while HM Prison and Probation Service had funded 20 specialist police investigators,He said: “The unit has been beefed up, and it needs to be, because it’s an increasing problem … Through our counter-corruption unit, we have found people who are bringing in drugs and contraband,”Timpson, the former chief executive of Timpson Group, the retailer that provides key cutting and shoe repair services, was speaking as more than 30 companies, including Microsoft and Google, prepared to meet the government on Thursday to explore how technology could help monitor offenders in the community more effectively and tackle violence in prison.
Timpson said artificial intelligence could be used to ease the heavy workload of probation officers who at present spend “so much time” duplicating data.“Technology can really impact what’s happening in prison, but most importantly in probation.You speak to some probation staff and they spend a lot of time finding housing for people, and when it fails, finding housing again,” he said.Timpson took up his role at the Ministry of Justice last July, when the penal system in England and Wales was close to breaking point, and oversaw the early release of thousands of inmates to ease overcrowding and free up space.A sentencing review conducted by the former justice secretary David Gauke is expected to recommend next week that more prisoners should be tagged and serve their sentences outside prison.
However, the security company Serco, contracted by the government to manage tagging since October 2023, has been severely criticised after a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary last month found that criminals were going untagged for months after their release.Sign up to First EditionOur morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it mattersafter newsletter promotionTimpson indicated he would not be withdrawing the contract.“What I’ve learned from doing this job is the procurement processes is well ingrained and long term, and it is pretty much what it is.I think it’s our job to keep pressure on, to call it out when it’s not right but to work with them to solve the problems that there are.Things have improved a lot, but I’m still not happy,” he said.
The Prison Service remained under pressure, he said, with fewer than 1,000 spare places and more than 88,000 people in custody in England and Wales,Timpson said he was confident further emergency measures to combat prison overcrowding would not be needed this year,He also said the government would have to spend £500m on dilapidated cells this year as it attempts to keep them in working order so they could receive offenders,“One of the problems is, when you go around, certainly the older Victorian prisons, there’s always this ongoing problem about losing cells because of various bits of dilapidation, and it costs a lot of money,That means we’re spending £500m at the moment on dilapidations and a lot of that is just keeping capacity there,” he said.
Disability benefit cuts impossible to support, 42 Labour MPs tell Starmer
More than 40 Labour MPs have warned the prime minister that planned disability cuts are “impossible to support” and have called for a pause and change in direction.The letter from parliamentarians spanning the new intake and veterans, and from the left and right of the party, sets Keir Starmer up for the biggest rebellion of his premiership when the House of Commons votes on the measures next month.There has already been widespread concern among Labour MPs about proposed changes including a significant tightening of eligibility for personal independent payments (Pips), saving about £5bn annually.They would also involve cuts or freezes to incapacity benefits for people who apply for universal credit but are judged unfit to work. According to internal Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) forecasts, the planned disability benefit cuts would affect 700,000 families who are already in poverty
New UK-US trade deal is a relief for Starmer but doubts, and tariffs, remain
Thursday’s trade agreement between the US and the UK fell far short of the superlatives heaped on it in Donald Trump’s excruciating televised phone call with Keir Starmer. But it is worth having, nevertheless.As Starmer made clear by appearing in front of an audience of Jaguar Land Rover workers in Solihull, reducing the 27.5% tariff on 100,000 car exports will come as a mighty relief for that industry.Steel and aluminium tariffs will also go completely, according to the UK side – though the fact sheet from the White House stopped short of saying that explicitly, instead saying a “new trading union” would be created in these two sectors
UK politics: Tariffs cut on UK cars, steel and aluminium in US trade deal, says Starmer – as it happened
Keir Starmer is at a Jaguar Land Rover factory. Summing up the deal, he says:This is a deal that will protect British businesses and save thousands of jobs In Britain, really important, skilled, well paid jobs. It will remove tariffs on British steel and aluminium, reducing them to zero. It will provide vital assurances for our life sciences sector, so important to our economy, and grant unprecedented market access for British farmers without compromising our high standards.And he says the deal means US tariffs on cars from the UK will be cut from 27
Cars, steel, beef and films: the key points of the US-UK trade deal
The UK and US have announced a new trade deal, or at least some elements of it, following a slightly chaotic transatlantic speaker phone call between Keir Starmer and Donald Trump.So what does it involve – and what was left out? Here is what we know and don’t know.With Starmer heading to the Jaguar Land Rover plant in the Midlands to herald the announcement, this was expected to be a major part of the deal, and it is.Tariffs for UK cars imported into the US will be cut from 27.5% to 10%, up to a maximum of 100,000 cars a year, close to total exports last year
Reform’s success shows how little Labour has offered voters | Letters
Polly Toynbee is right that there will be far worse to come for Labour if it carries on down its road of making the poorest yet poorer (The lesson for Labour? Until it can improve local lives and stop fearing Farage, more losses are coming, 6 May). She says: “They will be challenged by Reform UK in towns such as Barnsley.” Barnsley is the 38th most deprived local authority in England. Almost a quarter of its children live in poverty. Reform is a party with no poverty-alleviation policies and a “contract” with voters that states: “All job seekers and those fit to work must find employment within 4 months or accept a job after 2 offers
Tell us: how will Labour’s planned disability welfare cuts affect you?
The Labour government has proposed £4.8bn in cuts to disability welfare payments, with a House of Commons vote expected in June.The move would impact about 3 million households and plans, among other things, to tighten eligibility for personal independence payments (Pip) and change universal credit’s health element – such as halving it for new claimants, freezing it for existing recipients, and consulting on raising the minimum age to 22 from 18.We want to hear from you. How will your household be affected by Labour’s planned cuts to disability welfare payments? How would this impact your situation? What are your views on Labour’s proposals?You can tell us how Labour's proposed welfare cuts might affect you by filling in the form below
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