You have to laugh, when you see the word re-habilitation. The UK prison service is just a polical and economic tool. In political terms it is just to terrorise the general poulation into conformance with ever increasing draconian, politically motivated, trivial rules as the UK transforms itself into the number one police state in Europe. In economic terms the prisons are big buiness, both for their builders and the ancillary law and order 'team' who feed off turning the 'stock' repetitively through the system. There is no concept of re-habilitation, the only concept is terrorising the population and earning money, which pretty well summarises Britain up. Look up their conviction rates in the magistrates courts, look at their abusive use of anti-terror legislation, look at ASBOs, look at time on and use of remand, look at private hearings (MI5/MI6), look at imprisonment without trial (Belmarsh),look at DNA data bases, limitation to adequate defence and legal aid...

Count Cash I have lived in the UK for almost 40 years and I can confirm most of what you have stated in terms of the UK declining significantly towards becoming a Police state. Even basic and fundamental rights are now curtailed, including freedom of the press, all under the guise of 'fighting terror'. The UK has never before experienced the introduction of the very powerful and far reaching 'anti-terror legislation' which has given massive and far reaching power to the state and the representatives of the state (not even during the depths of WW2 when British cities actually were being carpet bombed by the enemy). Centuries of legal progress and evolution, which has seen citizens be granted protection, are slowly being turned upside down, so much so that the internationally accepted concept of 'inocent until PROVEN guilty', has for some offences, become 'guilty until proven inocent'. Truely shocking especially in a 'developed and civilised' country such as the UK. The so called 'war on terror' and the micro managment of the population through fear of an unseen all powerful enemy who could strike at any time (al-queda) has allowed many of the new laws to be passed hardly without challenge. The UK people had better wake up if this is to be stopped before we get up one day and find the mechanisms of state control so tightly controlled by the government elite that a pavement towards a dictatorship has been inadvertantly laid. As for Prisons, I some inside knowlege and experience of the new 'partnerships' the government is forming with large non state, often international, companies. I can tell you reliably that many of the recently built new prisons are actually 'private prisons' - that is these establishments were / are financed by the private sector, built by the private sector, managed by the private sector, and are all staffed by private security officers. I am not aware of any new prisons that are to be built and run by the state.

The Cash speaks. Except for that when prisoners transform to spider and let some line out in an updraught, locks n keys be f'd.