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Originally Posted by Osem
There's no way they'll serve 4 years or anything like that so let's not pretend otherwise. I'd be very surprised if they do more than 18 months and not at all surprised if it turns out to be even less. Frankly I'd be quite happy for anyone who incites the sort of rioting we all witnessed with its potential for huge damage and loss of life to be locked up for 4 years.
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Considering that in this case nobody actually took up the offer to riot, would you be happy with a bill to the taxpayer of ~£160,000 as well?
Yes, prison costs the taxpayer £40,000 per inmate per year, and we're locking up quite a few...
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In his first major speech as justice secretary, Mr Clarke described as "astonishing" the 85,000 prison population in the UK and questioned whether it delivers value for money - reflecting what Frances Crook of the Howard League for Penal Reform desribed to Channel 4 News as a "financial imperative".
The justice secretary said he was "amazed" that the number of people in prison had doubled since his time as home secretary in the early 1990s.
He maintained that keeping a prisoner in jail has often proved "a costly and ineffectual approach that fails to turn criminals into law-abiding citizens".
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In his speech he says it costs £38,000 a year to send someone to prison - more than it costs to send a boy to Eton, the prime minister's old school. "We spend vast amounts of public money on a growing prison estate and ever more prisoners."
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That's not from me. It's from Pinko Liberal, hand wringing, muesli eating and sandal wearing Guardianista Right Honourable Kenneth Clarke, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice.