MacShane urges new Justice Minister to end prison overcrowding

FORMER Labour Minister Denis MacShane, who was sentenced to six months in jail for parliamentary expenses fraud in 2013, called on the new Justice Minister to spearhead urgent reform of Britain’s prisons, writes Joanna Moorhead.

Mr MacShane, a Catholic, described the “British prison disaster” as a priority for Michael Gove in a letter to the Guardian. With ever-increasing prisoner numbers and up to 70 per cent of released prisoners back inside within a year, the problem is “there don’t seem to be any MPs up for reform” he wrote. He added no one wants to ask if the “mass incarceration policy” works and why it is so costly.