PRISON SHIP FOR TILBURY? - EXPENSIVE AND INEFFECTIVE, SAY LIB DEMS

12.00.00am GMT Sun 24th Jan 2010

Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for Thurrock, Carys Davis, has torpedoed Labour's criticisms re proposed prison ships off Tilbury. The Conservatives are considering reintroducing prison ships to help deal with prison overcrowding.

Carys said:

"The Labour Government is responsible for creating a prison system that's bursting at the seams, by introducing nearly 4,000 new criminal offences.

"The Tories' prison ships would be an expensive and ineffective solution, but we're still waiting for a viable alternative from Labour.

"Instead, we can ease overcrowding in jails by using more rigorous community punishments for non-violent crimes.

"Community justice panels enable local people to have say if their community has been damaged by crime - and are proven to reduce re-offending."