In a 'victory for common sense' the government was defeated by the Lords last night in its plans to merge the prisons inspectorate as part of a wider, diluted criminal justice inspectorate.

In the debate the government was defeated by a majority of 113, Prison Reform Trust director Juliet Lyon commented:

Now government will have to listen to the message about overcrowded prisons and what needs to be done rather than trying to shoot the messenger

The amendment was moved by Lord Ramsbotham, a former chief inspector of prisons, he referred to a recent inspectorate report about HMP Pentonville and wondered whether under the proposed new regime the government would allow the publication of 'uncomfortable details'. He said:

...at times of crisis the one thing that you need above all is timely, accurate information. The current crisis has come about in part because the Government have failed to listen to timely, accurate information provided by their one independent and objective source—the independent prisons inspectorate. But you don’t shoot the messenger just because you don’t like the message.

You can read the debate by following the link below and you can also read former home secretary, Douglas Hurd's article condemning the government's plans by following the link below.