Working as a civilian in a prison I wish to add my support to the POA and their campaign against the bullying tactics of the government over pay and conditions. We seem to be bending over backwards for the rights of prisoners at the detriment of those brave souls who have to face abuse and attacks every day from some of the worst scum in the country.
It doesn't take a brain surgeon to realise that the funding for institutions like the prison service has been eroded since our 'illegal occupation' of Iraq and Afghanistan.
What is the use of a Prison Inspectorate that constantly criticises the underfunding of the system when the government for the past few years have been cutting back the amount of money being spent on an overworked antiquated system.
The Prison Service has one of the highest sick rates in any business which it copes with by putting more work on officers that remain. Then they wonderer why these officers go off sick.
What would help now would be the PCS union (the civil service branch of the prison service) would come out in sympathy for its uniformed brothers as we too have had to endure the hard-man tactics of the Home Office/MoJ over the past few years.
What you have to ask is would you put you life on the line each day, to keep the dregs of the earth off the streets of Britain for £20k a year?
loiswakeman
No, I wouldn't. I admire those who do, and think they should be fairly rewarded rather than put upon.
But I'm not sure the war is the only drain on the Prison Service budget: they are treating the servicemen pretty badly too; out there, and when they come home injured. But government is still happy to propose wasting billions on stupid ideas like ID cards (some £10bn?), the Beeb's online jamboree (£3bn p/a), NHS online patient records (£12bn - and doctors are opting out because of security concerns)...