Terrorists can’t be in charge of prisons
BRITAIN’S simmering prison crisis is fast becoming a national scandal.
Prison officer chiefs say Muslim prisoners in one jail were exempt from searches by sniffer dogs after they complained on religious grounds.
Shockingly this is at HMP Frankland, the same high security lock-up where warped Manchester Arena terrorist Hashem Abedi viciously attacked four guards last week.
If the evil Abedi exploited this ruling to hide his improvised weapons safe in the knowledge he could evade security checks there will rightly be public outrage. How did it come to this?
Courageous prison officers who daily have to deal with violent Islamist extremists should never be exposed to risks in this way.
Too often virtue-signalling bosses in the justice system are bowing to the demands of dangerous inmates.
This madness is fuelling a rise in Islamist gang rule behind bars.
Many of Britain’s crumbling and overcrowded jails are already tinderboxes waiting to erupt.
The safety of frontline staff should always come before the wishes of terrorists and murderers.
As former prison governor Ian Acheson says, their welfare cannot be compromised because prison bosses fear accusations of racism.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has called for a review into the HMP Frankland attack.
She must take immediate steps to end this security shambles, restore control and increase protection for guards.
Stab vests would be a start.
We must never allow prisoners the freedom to rule in our jails.
Time for council axe
FOR too long, town hall fat cats have been splurging taxpayers’ money with abandon while local services have nosedived.
Reform leader Nigel Farage promises to take an Elon Musk-style axe to wasteful council spending if he wins in local elections.
It will strike a chord with skint voters sick of seeing their money being disgracefully squandered.
Six figure salaries and a work from home culture are common while many impose maximum council tax rises.
Yet they have dismally failed to get to grips with basic problems such as the potholes that plague our roads.
Neither Labour nor the Tories have highlighted this appalling waste.
It’s hardly surprising when councils run by both parties are the ones running up the massive bills.
