ABSTRACT
A leading article in The Guardian (1 November 2001: 8) noted that the Lord Chief Justice, the Chief Inspector of Prisons and the Director General of Prisons had all complained about the growth of imprisonment in Britain. However, ‘the response was abysmal. True to tradition, both major parties indulged in a round of penal populism.’ Shortly afterwards, the same paper reported that ‘scared of being seen to be weak on law ’n’ order, [the Home Secretary has] opted for penal populism. In a system which already imprisoned more people than the most hardline states . . . he [has] opted to tighten the screw further’ (The Guardian 12 December 2001: 18). The Scotsman (16 May 2005: 3) reported that Scotland’s Young Thinker of the Year was interested in penal reform. She had said in a speech acknowledging her award that ‘it appears to be a vote winner to say that a party will be tough on crime, but an urgent change of direction away from this “penal populism” is required.’
