Reform UK's new justice adviser calls for bolstered ‘rehabilitation' in prisons
Nigel Farage, Reform UK's leader, has promised 'the most significant event' of his party's crime campaign later on Monday.
Speaking on Times Radio, Ms Frake said: 'I read every week negative press about our prison service and drugs, mobiles, violence, suicide, self-harm, etcetera, etcetera.
'And you know, the time is now for somebody to do something about it. Successive governments have failed and failed miserably and, you know, that's why our prison service now is on its knees.'
The former prison governor said: 'I'm not naive in the fact that people don't want to spend money on prisons – they'd rather it went to the NHS, to education – I'm not naive at all about that.
'But actually, if you think about the whole picture, at the moment we're warehousing prisoners and we're turning out better criminals into our society.
'I'd like to see it where we actually do some rehabilitation and make our society safer for our children, and that is going to cost money but at least somebody is listening to others.'
Ms Frake, who wrote about her previous work in her book The Governor, also referred to a Government scheme which cut temporarily the proportion of sentences certain inmates must serve behind bars from 50% to 40%.
'In a prison, now they do 40% of a sentence,' she said.
'There's very little you can do with somebody who is addicted to drugs, alcohol, has mental health issues. There is very little you can do within a prison at that time.
'And when people are sentenced to short sentences, they lose their support systems on the outside.
'They lose their home if they had one, they lose family support and we let them out with nothing so their only alternative is to commit crime and get on that crime ladder, and that needs to be addressed.
'What I would like to see is much better community services, much better community and substance misuse services outside of prisons, and much better management of prisoners on the outside.'
Asked whether she was willing to have a 'difficult conversation' with party leader Nigel Farage, Ms Frake replied: 'He might have his own views but he will listen far more than any other party has listened in the past.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
28 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Tory and Reform politicians endanger trials with immigration ‘hysteria', say former ministers
Conservative and Reform UK politicians are fuelling 'hysteria and anger' over immigration, with criminal trials put at risk of collapse, former ministers and police have warned. Protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers have spread across the country in recent weeks, while debate about immigration – including instances of misinformation – has intensified. At a Reform press conference on Monday, a man awaiting trial was referred to as 'the criminal' by a Reform council leader despite not yet being convicted of any crime. Questioned on whether contempt laws had been broken, the party's leader, Nigel Farage, said it was 'good' that the council leader had become 'slightly emotional'. Amid growing pressure, the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said on Tuesday that she had asked for a change in official guidance to permit police to release the ethnicity or immigration status of criminal suspects. Dominic Grieve, a former Conservative attorney general, told the Guardian he was concerned about the 'fuelling of hysteria by politicians' and said some were breaking the law by commenting on future trials in serious cases such as rape and abduction. Certain politicians 'seem to have thrown the rulebook in the bonfire', he said. Britain's former top counter-terrorism chief warned that comments from Farage and the Tory shadow justice secretary, Robert Jenrick, risked 'unwittingly' inciting violence, accusing them of copying Donald Trump's techniques by hyping fears over immigration to try to win votes. Neil Basu, a former assistant commissioner with the Metropolitan police, said it was 'appealing to the worst kind of populist sentiment'. Asked if such rhetoric risks contributing to a risk of last summer's violence, Basu said: 'Yes … they should be very careful about the language they use. It is capable, demonstrably, of causing violence.' The Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, said it was time for the attorney general, Richard Hermer, to issue a formal warning to Farage about comments on live criminal cases. 'Farage and the Conservatives are … openly trying to tear down our justice system, just as the Maga movement has done in the US,' Davey said. 'Irresponsible comments like these put prosecutions at risk and could let dangerous criminals walk free. The attorney general must step in and send a formal warning to Farage that contempt of court will not be tolerated.' Others who appealed for a change in tone included the former justice secretaries Robert Buckland, David Gauke and Charlie Falconer, as well as the former chair of the justice select committee, Sir Bob Neill, who said they were worried about the febrile environment – though several said more transparency from police over the ethnicity of suspects was also now necessary to calm tensions. The row over information withheld by police has been reignited after the 19-year-old Reform leader of Warwickshire county council, George Finch, said police were refusing to confirm details of two suspects charged after an alleged rape. Among other examples cited by critics was data used by Jenrick that 40% of all of the sexual crimes were committed by foreign nationals last year. The number of convictions is significantly lower. Grieve said he was extremely concerned about the consequence of the frenzied atmosphere on contempt of court laws, also citing the trial of two British Pakistani men over a police assault at Manchester airport. 'With social media, contempt of court has gone out of the window,' he said. 'It seems to be that it's a complete free for all, and for politicians who ought to know better to participate in this is actually scandalous. Certainly with some of the recent cases, politicians seem to have thrown the rulebook in the bonfire.' Buckland said he had supported changes to make the nationality of offenders publicly available, but he was concerned about the potential for misinformation. 'Politicians have a responsibility to use objective and tested data rather than distorted or incomplete information,' he said. Neill, a former Tory MP, said he was in favour of more transparency but alarmed at the willingness of politicians to risk undermining the courts. 'I'm afraid some people, including people in elected office, frankly do not understand the importance of the checks and balances in our system, which includes protecting the jury system,' he said. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion The former Labour justice secretary Charlie Falconer said: 'The opposition feel the need the whole time to get headlines by constantly describing things in an extremist way, all the time it's saying, 'society will be on the verge of collapse unless something is done,'' he said. 'The language is much, much worse than it ever was five years ago. There's a more angry electorate, and there's too many politicians willing to use lurid language.' A Home Office source said it was vital that there was 'greater clarity on how contempt of court laws work alongside social media and today's communication environment', but stopped short of issuing warnings to politicians. Hermer has so far declined to intervene to warn politicians on the risks of potentially collapsing criminal trials. In a sign of how far misinformation has spread, polling from YouGov found the British public 'dramatically overestimate' the number of illegal migrants to the UK. Almost half of Britons – 47% – think there are more migrants staying in the UK illegally rather than legally, including about a third who believe it is 'much higher'. There are varied estimates of the numbers of those living in the UK without formal status, which is difficult to calculate, but the Migration Observatory's most recent figures said it was up to 1.3 million. But legal migration is far higher – about 10.7 million people in the UK were born in a different country. Attitudes to migration have significantly hardened. About 45% of Britons say they would support 'admitting no more new migrants, and requiring large numbers of migrants who came to the UK in recent years to leave'. Rights groups including Amnesty International have cautioned against releasing suspects' ethnicities, accusing the government of 'choosing to pour fuel on the fire of dangerous narratives, instead of taking action to address racism and hostility'. Cooper said the government had asked the Law Commission to review the guidance six months ago and expected it to conclude in the autumn. 'We do think the guidance needs to change,' she said, adding that it was already the case that where police deemed it necessary more information on nationality was released.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Reform's prison tsar 'more than happy' to open door to death penalty debate - despite Nigel Farage saying he could 'never support' capital punishment
Reform's new prison tsar has said she is 'more than happy' to discuss MPs thoughts on the death penalty - after Nigel Farage ruled the punishment out. Vanessa Frake, the former head of security at HMP Wormwood Scrubs, was revealed yesterday as the party's adviser on crime. The 62-year-old was quizzed today on her capital punishment stance - and while she denied personally backing a change in the law, Ms Frake opened the doors to a debate. She told LBC: 'Look, I'm more than happy to discuss the death penalty… 'If you'd have asked me that question 20 years ago, I'd have said absolutely, no hesitation - I support the death penalty. 'But, you know, a lot has changed over the years with convictions being unsafe. 'And is it really a deterrent? Is it a deterrent in the United States, in the states that have the death penalty? 'No, it's not. I'd much rather those people spent whatever life they have behind bars.' The prison Tsar, who previously oversaw Rose West, told LBC: 'Look, I'm more than happy to discuss the death penalty…' The prison tsar went on to clarify she was 'open to discussion' but 'not an advocate of it (the death penalty) full-blown.' Ms Frake, who has been brought in by Reform UK to help boost their prison and justice policy, oversaw a number of notorious inmates during her time in the prison service. Among these were serial killer Rose West, Moors murderer Myra Hindley and Libertines frontman, Pete Doherty. Her comments today came despite Mr Farage previously insisting 'nothing on the death penalty will be part of party policy'. In June, he told The Sun: 'These are issues of conscience, just as the assisted dying debate will be when it comes up on Friday, just as the abortion limit. 'These are all issues of conscience. Nothing on the death penalty will be part of party policy. 'I have to say, personally, given there have been 500 quite serious miscarriages of justice in this country since the early 1970s, I don't think I could ever support it. But I understand why others take a different point of view. 'Although I do think it's quite interesting there's a younger generation coming through who seem to increasingly support the death penalty. 'And I suspect it will be back within the next decade as an issue of major national debate. Not quite yet, but it's coming. 'But, certainly, these things will not be party policy, far, far from it.' A poll from More in Common UK released in January found a majority of Brits supported reinstating the death penalty in the UK, with Millennials offering the strongest support. Three in five (58 per cent) of Millennials born between 1981 and 1986 said they believed capital punishment should be reintroduced. Reform names like David Bull - the new party chairman - have backed looking at the death penalty, as well as Lee Anderson - one of the party's five MPs - who is a long-standing supporter. The party says its focus over the summer will be on crime and immigration as bosses attempt to flesh out policy platforms. Ms Frake said Reform UK is 'refreshing' following her work under various parties over the years in the prison service. She said: 'You can either stand by and moan about the state of things or you can stand up and speak about them. 'And I received a phone call from Reform last week asking for my opinion on prisons, the first time that anybody has ever asked me from a political party. 'I'm not saying we'll agree on everything, we probably won't, but that's politics, that's policy making. And I think that, you know, I spent 27 years in the prison service and I am greatly saddened by how things are run now. 'I feel for the prison staff who have to do a very difficult job on a daily basis in very difficult circumstances. 'Finally, somebody has asked somebody from the Prison Service who's actually lived that experience to share their knowledge, and I'm more than happy to do so.' Ms Frake said she had only been contacted by Reform about the role four days before it was announced. She said she would like to see funding for prisons restored alongside attempts to extend sentences and lock more people up. The appointment comes as Mr Farage yesterday failed to commit to banning transgender women from female prisons - after Ms Frake said the inmates should not be automatically barred. Ms Frake had argued the decisions should be made on an 'individual basis'. Asked for his views on her comments yesterday, the Reform UK leader told the Daily Mail: 'I've personally never worked in a prison so I can't answer [the question] but I think you'll find that the answer that you'll get from somebody who has worked in prisons at the highest possible level is, I think, basically it's about risk assessment, isn't it? 'But in terms of the problems in prisons, it's a relatively small one.' A Reform spokesman later added of Ms Frake: 'An ex-prison governor... has a different opinion. That does not constitute party policy.' In the interview to mark her appointment, Ms Frake had said decisions about transgender prisoners should be made on a case-by-case basis. But she told The Times that sexual offenders may need to be held in male prisons. 'It's all about the risk assessments for me, and each has to be done on an individual basis,' she said. She added the transgender prisoners she had overseen were 'accepted' by other inmates, saying: 'People who want to just say a blanket ban clearly have never stepped foot in a prison and seen how prison runs and how risk assessments on individuals happen.' The prison tsar told LBC today the biggest lesson she had learned over the years was 'how to compartmentalise' what she saw on a daily basis. Ms Frake said: 'I looked after Rose west for about four or five months. The woman's a typical psychopath. 'You know, she has absolutely no emotional intelligence. And, you know, people who are of that ilk, they don't have it tattooed on their forehead. And that is why they are psychopaths. 'But at the end of the day, they're nobody special, they're prisoners.'
Spectator
an hour ago
- Spectator
Labour voters: Kyle's Savile comment was ‘inappropriate'
Back to the Online Safety Act which, since it came into force just over a week ago, has sparked outrage across the country as social media posts showing rioters fighting with police have been suppressed while those referring to sexual attacks have been automatically flagged as pornographic. As the Spectator's cover piece noted last week, footage from a protest outside the Britannia Hotel in Leeds, which showed police officers restraining and arresting a protestor, now can't be easily accessed in Britain. But while opposition leaders like Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage have slammed the legislation, Mr S has been rather intrigued to find out who exactly supports it. More in Common polling has revealed that, staggeringly, almost six in ten people support the Act. While seven in ten Labour voters back the legislation it transpires, rather curiously, that Reform UK voters are the most divided about it all. While a third of Farage-backers are against the legislation, one in two Reform voters are in favour of the law. Despite this, however, Reform UK supporters tend to be more concerned about political posts being restricted by social media platforms under the law – with 83 per cent of Farage-supporters flagging this is as a worry compared with seven in ten of the general population. The data drop comes after Farage's party vowed to repeal the legislation if Reform win the next general election – with both Nige and his DOGE lead, former chair Zia Yusuf, agreeing that an alternative way to guarantee child safety online is necessary. Yet despite admitting an alternative solution to the Act would be required, the Reform lot became the focus of attacks from Labour – with Science Secretary Peter Kyle suggesting that Farage was 'on the side of' sexual predators like, er, Jimmy Savile over his stance. Whether this was an appropriate comment to make has not divided voters across the political spectrum quite as much as the Online Safety Act itself. More in Common polling shows that more than six in ten Brits believe Kyle's remark – which were subsequently doubled down on by government ministers – was 'an inappropriate thing to say'. While those most outraged by the comparison were Reform UK voters (83 per cent) and Tory voters (71 per cent), more than half of Labour voters were left unimpressed by Kyle's words. Eight in ten Reform voters think Kyle should apologise – as do almost two-thirds of Tories and, um, around half of Labour supporters. Dear oh dear. It looks like Sir Keir Starmer's strategists may have to go back to the drawing board on this one…
