Prison chiefs ridiculed over sale of tampons to male inmates

PRISON chiefs have been accused of ‘ ridiculous’ plans to sell tampons to inmates at men’s jails.

Minutes of meetings of the Prison and Probation Service Transgender Advisory Board detail a proposal to add feminine hygiene products to the ‘canteen list’ of items allowed to be bought at more than 100 men’s prisons in England and Wales.

The minutes for February, obtained under Freedom of Information rules, say: ‘[Redacted] suggested that having one canteen list would help as everyone, including transgender prisoners, could access the same items – for example, tampons in male prisons for transgender males.’

The board recommended an examination of the plan and minutes of a subsequent meeting state: ‘It was mentioned that canteen lists for prisons appeared to be different for prisons in the female and male estates. The question was asked whether the lists could be consistent, particularly the canteen list for transgender prisoners.’

But campaigners described the plan as a ‘complete waste of time’ given the near total absence of inmates in male prisons who would have need for sanitary products. The Ministry of Justice last night said there are two male inmates who were born women serving sentences in men’s prisons.

Dr Kate Coleman, director of the campaign group Keep Prisons Single Sex, said: ‘This is ridiculous. It’s just politically correct virtue signalling for the sake of it.’