There has been a lot of outrage in the last couple of days regarding prisoners getting 10% knocked off their sentences. Why is this? Well, the UK prison system is, quite frankly, a clusterfuck. Overcrowding has become a serious crisis, and while prisoner numbers are part of the story, the real problem lies in two things: years of underinvestment and appallingly low pay for prison staff. Together, these have created the perfect storm—too many inmates, not enough space, and a workforce that’s heading for the exits faster than a fire drill.

Underinvestment in Prison Infrastructure

First off, we’ve got prisons that are older than some of our laws. Many were built when horse-drawn carriages were still plodding the streets, and it shows. These crumbling, overcrowded institutions are stretched way beyond their intended capacity. Instead of investing in proper upgrades, the government’s approach has been: “Stick a plaster on it and hope for the best.”

What about new prisons? They were promised but as with most Tories promises, the delivery has been non existent or laughably slow. In fact, many old prisons have been shut down before replacements were even coming out of the ground. And we wonder why early release schemes are coming in?

Poor Prison Worker Salaries and Staffing Issues

So, what about the poor bastards who work there. Prison officers are expected to deal with violent inmates, mental health crises, and an endless stream of paperwork for a salary that wouldn’t tempt someone to answer phones at a call centre. Unsurprisingly, they’re leaving in droves. And why wouldn’t they? The pay’s crap, the stress is through the roof, and they have to worry about getting stabbed by someone who should be in a mental institute.

So are there staff shortages? Of course there are, all over the service their are unfilled roles. Fewer officers mean prisoners are getting harder to manage, and with nobody to oversee rehabilitation, what little hope there is for cleaning up reforming offenders goes straight out the window. Those who stick around face burnout, while the rest are smart enough to run for the hills or a job in a McDonalds warehouse where the pay is better.

The Vicious Cycle of Overcrowding and Understaffing

The whole situation creates a vicious cycle: prisons are at bursting point, and there aren’t enough staff to manage the chaos. Prisoners get stuck in cells like sardines in a tin, and rehabilitation programs are slashed to bits because there’s nobody left to run them because of austerity measures. This lack of support ensures one thing: when prisoners do get out, they’re pretty much guaranteed to reoffend, because they’ve learned absolutely nothing. And so, they’re right back where they started, adding to the overcrowding. Rinse and repeat.

Missed Opportunities for Reform

What’s particularly mind-boggling is that the Tory government continued locking people up for non-violent crimes when there are alternatives out there: community service, electronic tagging, rehab programs. Yet, we’re barely using them, probably because they are underfunded and understaffed as well. Instead, we cram more people into overcrowded prisons, which are already bursting at the seams.

And when it comes to rehabilitation inside prisons? Well, there’s no funding for that, so good luck getting anything meaningful done. It’s like buying a car without an alternator and wondering why it won’t drive—because you didn’t put a new one in, obviously.

A Need for Urgent Action

To put it bluntly, UK prisons are crumbling, understaffed, and drowning in utter chaos. If the new government doesn’t invest in better infrastructure, pay prison officers a fair wage, and rethink its approach to sentencing and rehabilitation, the system’s going to collapse. And when that happens, it really will be a case of shit meet fan.

As it stands, blaming it on a government that has been in power for two months is impulsive nonsense.