A Soft Nation? Us?

HMP Send is a prison for female criminals. They are being punished and the obvious argument is that their children shouldn't be punished too. Already scoffed at as being a cushy establishment, with a gym and hairdresser, it is now having a 100-bed unit built to accommodate children of inmates overnight. To qualify for a stay the children must be under 12 years old and their mothers considered a low risk offender. The scheme, quite an expensive one which will no doubt prove to be statistically successful, is projected as aiding prisoner reform thus reducing reoffending and crime levels. The cynic might say it'll give the children an experience of "holiday camp" prison and remove any fear of being an inmate themselves.

Twithay?