Someone (I forget who) once said you can judge a society by looking at it's prisons. If this is right, the UK must be a real basketcase...

Recent staitstics show that the UK now has a l prison population of 75,191 up 20% since New Labour came to power and more than any other country in Europe. This has been followed by the emergence of a system of forced labour derided by critics as little more than slavery, mirroring developments across the Atlantic. As the government increases privatistion of prisons these probelms are only likely to increase. Rather more bizarrely it has also emerged that the victims of serious miscarriages of justice are to be charged for the bed-and-breakfast bill for their time inside!

Check out this report from the Independent Working Class Association website for more info.