International Law

Vitamins plan 'to cut prison violence'

By John Hirst

"Prisoners will be given vitamins and mineral supplements in an attempt to improve their behaviour and cut down on violence behind bars, The Daily Telegraph has learned".

It strikes me that if prisoners need vitamins and mineral supplements then the prison diet is lacking. During Margaret Thatcher's reign in power, I remember that prisoners food budget suffered cuts. At that time, prisoners received on average 33p per meal. I recall reading the report in a newspaper and my attention wandered to an advert offering a small tin of Kitekat for 33p! The report claimed that prisoners food was not based upon a monetary budget, rather it was based upon dietary requirements. When I showed the report to the prison officer in charge of the kitchen he replied "bollocks!". This was also my view. I believed that the Prisons Minister had misled Parliament on the issue.

In any event, whether prisoners food rations are based upon a monetary budget or upon dietary needs it would appear that prisoners food rations are inadequate for good health. With the introduction of private prisons those prisoners held in the private sector received on average £1 per meal. I have yet to learn the justification for the anomaly of why prisoners in the public sector prisons had to manage on two thirds of the food budget/dietary requirements compared to those prisoners in the private sector. Perhaps, this will give Jack Straw, the Minister of Justice, food for thought?

Full post as published by prisonlawinsideout on January 15, 2008 (boomark / email).