ABSTRACT
The confusion and loss of morale which have helped to bring the Prison Service to the brink of disaster were predicted as long ago as 1963 by opponents of Whitehall’s successful attempts, made then and subsequently, to gain greater bureaucratic power over the prison system. The growth of bureaucracy followed moves by Whitehall mandarins and ministers, introduced with some deviousness against fierce criticism in and out of Parliament. Their purpose was the absorption of the old Prison Commission, set up in 1877 to be responsible for prisons, within the control of the Home Secretary. Like feudal barons without a suitable prince to command their loyalty, and with their Association caught in an understandable state of confusion and seeming inadequacy through failure in Whitehall, the officers took action to obtain answers that many of them thought were forthcoming in no other way.
