Straw attacks jail reformers

JACK Straw today prompted an angry clash with prison reform campaigners by accusing them of forgetting about the victims of crime and focusing too much on the needs of inmates.

The Justice Secretary said too many reformers treated prisoners on the same moral level as their victims.

Instead, he said, they should focus on the need for offenders to be punished, as well as reformed, and think more about assisting the people who had suffered because of their crimes. Mr Straw was attacked by prison reform groups, which accused him of presiding over a failing jails policy.