Mental illness in prison is a crime
SEVEN in 10 of all Britain’s prisoners have two or more mental health problems. That is 63,000 of a population of about 90,000, equal to the size of a large town. Male prisoners are 14 times more likely and female prisoners 23 times more likely to have a psychotic disorder than the wider population.
Three in five male prisoners have a neurotic disorder of some kind, three times the level of those outside of prison.
These figures reveal the true, disturbing scale of the mental health challenge in our prisons. Our prisons have become the modern-day equivalent of the Victorian asylum, swamped with complex and demanding mental health cases sometimes serious enough to be better treated in specialist secure healthcare than a prison.
Working in our prisons, already a difficult enough job done magnificently by our prison officers, is made even tougher by having to cope with this tidal wave of mental health problems. Our system is simply not designed to cope.
That is why it is so crucial the Sunday Express Crusade for Better Mental Health embraces the forgotten thousands in our prisons. The Sunday Express’s brave campaign is to be applauded, raising the profile of an issue that has been for too long something society has been embarrassed to discuss.
For those of us in politics, we too have begun to appreciate the scale of the problem. As Shadow Justice Secretary I want to make the case for extending this crusade into our prisons. These are full of people who have ended up inside partly because of the severity of their mental problems. Society has let them down.
Vulnerable people have not got the support they need to deal with life’s challenges. They have been sucked into criminality. Before anything can be done they are behind bars.
That is not to excuse their criminality or the need to punish them for their offences but we should understand how they ended up in prison and seek to stop others following the same route.
That is why early, proper mental health provision in the NHS could make a real difference, supporting those faced with problems and helping to prevent a drift into a life of crime, to nip in the bud any chances of getting mixed up with wrongdoing.
If we get this right in our society it will be harder for some to find their way into a life of crime, making communities up and down our country safer as a result.
If we also get this right in our prisons we will break the cycle of reoffending. Poor mental health is one of the contributing factors to an increased likelihood of reoffending.
There is a revolving door of those coming in and out of prison, not managing to free themselves from a life of crime.
Of the 90,000 in prison today, 90 per cent will be out and free within 10 years. Focusing our energies on addressing mental health in our prisons now will lead to safer streets. If we can make a difference people will feel safer in their communities and those coming out of prison will live law-abiding lives.
THE ATTITUDES of society towards mental health are changing. Everyone has either been affected personally or has a loved one, friend or family member who has faced the challenge of mental health. Even in the work of the Ministry of Justice mental health has been made a higher priority.
Under a future Labour Government, in which I hope to have the privilege of being the Justice Secretary, I am determined to do much more. To drive this forward I will appoint a minister with specific responsibility for mental health. This will be a fi rst and it is long overdue.
This person will be the guardian of mental health across our justice system, someone who is charged with ensuring our courts, prisons and probation service are geared up to identify and cope with the scale of the challenge.
Cracking this problem as part of a crusade for better mental health will benefit everyone. THERE hasn’t been much time for posing in the sun this summer but as soon as the clouds parted last week who was spotted in a sporty convertible with red leather seats?
Sunglasses on, Bracknell MP Dr Phillip Lee parked his sporty two-seater near the footpath between the Commons and Portcullis House, where many MPs’ offices are. “He made sure everyone could see him,” one observer said. TWEET of the week is this topical joke from Daventry MP Chris Heaton Harris: “A Higgs Boson particle goes into a church... Apparently it was looking for Mass.” FORMER tax accountant turned MP Nigel Mills turned on Take That star Gary Barlow’s tax avoidance with a string of the worst puns ever uttered. The Amber Valley MP had colleagues groaning in their seats as he “prayed” that it “would be magic” if Barlow brought his full tax payments “back for good”.
Mercifully at that point Mills said: “That’s all the Take That songs I can remember.”
Don’t give up the day job, Nige.
KIRSTY BUCHANAN