Aren't they missing the point?

[#1]

So prisoners are going to get help while the rest of the poor don't. Perhaps if we all got help people wouldn't end up in prison.

Mind you only giving a damn about criminals is probably cheaper.. And they say crime doesn't pay?

[#2]

The sad fact is, there are people who re-offend because life inside is cushy, free bed, board, food, TV, no threat of eviction, bailiffs, gas & electric being cut off, and plenty of like-minded people to socialise with, on the outside, nobody wants to employ a criminal, landlords won't want to house a criminal, and of course, the benefits system won't want to fund a criminal (well, that part may not be entirely true given the amount of fraud in the system)...

Still, having an opinion on what prison should be like is often frowned upon in this day and age of "equal" rights, cos you're not allowed to say prisons should be like what they should be, a horrible place where criminals are treated like dirt, worked to the bone doing menial (and often pointless) tasks, and given tiny cells and poor food to live with...

[#3]

We don't punish people for wrong doing these days we rehabilitate them back into society

[#4]

Many ex-prisoners need help simply because everything is weighed against them. You need an income to survive and this is usually denied to them. So how are they to survive? Unless you want any and every ex-prisoner to be given benefits for the rest of their lives. Or deny them this and act surprised when they re-offend.

I expect many end up in prison because of circumstances beyond their control. Not all prisoners are Shipmans or Hindleys.

We have another thread on this forum about the closing down of old asylums. People that would have filled them now populate our prisons. They didn't suddenly wake up cured and care in the community never worked. Where else would they get food and a bed for the night?

If the papers are to be believed employers would rather employ a foreign wanted murderer on the run than some home grown minor ex-criminal. Simply on the basis one has a record they can see while the other hasn't so is assumed to be squeaky clean.