John McDonnellhas highlighted how the "huge human cost" of cuts to
justice has caused a crisis in our prisons, with a surge in deaths,
violence, self-harm and drug abuse.
Ahead, of next month's budget, the Shadow Chancellor has released
the first in a series of reports highlighting a sharp decline in
public services after a decade of Tory rule.
Labour's Shadow Treasury Team has published The Road to the
Budget: Justice - A Pre-Budget Report on the State of Justice in
the United Kingdom in 2020.
The report reveals that "ten years of Tory gutting of the justice
system has left people less safe than in 2010, and has left a
system in crisis."
There has been a dramatic increase in attacks on prison officers,
prisoner-on-prisoner assaults and self-harm by inmates, Labour
has found.
, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor,
commenting on the findings, said:
“Ten years of austerity have cut jobs, undermined morale, and
harmed the quality of the services we all rely on.
“What our latest analysis shows is that cuts in justice have also
made us all less safe.
“The Tories have torn apart our social fabric, and the upcoming
Budget looks likely to risk another five years of decline and
disappointment.”
Ends
Notes to Editors
· The report found that prisoner-on-prisoner assaults more than
doubled from 11,892 in 2009/10 to 24,541 in 2018/19.
· Self-harm incidents more than doubled, from 24,964 in 2009/10
to 57,968. Between 2015 and 2018 alone, among adult prisoners,
there was a 110% increase in prisoner assaults on staff, a 63%
increase in prisoner-on-prisoner assaults, and a 73% increase in
self-harm incidents.
· Labour's Shadow Treasury Team will publish separate reports on
the state of Britain's public services in the run up to the
Budget on March 11th. McDonnell's team will issue reports on
climate change, local government and housing.
