Too much porridge?

This last autumn has seen an ongoing debate about the fact that Britain has too many offenders and has run out of prison cells in which to keep them.

There are 140 prisons in England and Wales with a capacity for 79,900 prisoners. The numbers in prison have risen from 60,000 in 1997 to the full capacity this year.

Fingers of blame have been pointed in various directions. The government has not built new prisons. Foreign prisoners are somehow the problem. We are locking up too many young people. We have become too keen on the use of prison sentences. Petty offences are three times more likely to lead to jail than ten years ago and the average length of sentence has increased from 21 to 26 months over the same time.