Will Burnham fix our barbaric prisons – or cave to rightwing populism? The answer is a tragedy | Simon Jenkins

England and Wales’s prisons are overcrowded, drug-infested and barbaric. Labour has halted a once-in-a-generation effort to change that sorry state

Andy Burnham’s “pausing” of the Starmer government’s prisoner release scheme and the resignation of its architect, James Timpson, are disasters. They indicate a Downing Street that puts populism ahead of policy. England and Wales’s prisons are a total disgrace. Timpson was the first justice minister in 15 years prepared to handle them. Now he has gone. Although he said it had been an “honour” to serve in the government, it is reasonable to assume he resigned in disgust.

In August 2024, the prison population in England and Wales hit a record high. The following March, a savage report from the public accounts committee warned that prisons, already full to bursting, could not cope with such numbers and would overflow by the start of 2026.

Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist

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