Prisons: Banning Books

New rules introduced by the justice secretary ban anyone sending in books to prisoners. From now on, any man, woman or child in prison will not be able to receive a book from outside. This is part of an increasingly irrational punishment regime orchestrated by Chris Grayling that grabs headlines but restricts education or rehabilitation....

Frances Crook (!), the Howard League For Penal Reform, politics.co.uk

What a spectacular act of stupid mean-spirited cruel cuntery.

Brought to you by Chris Grayling, the Tory 'Justice' Secretary, who also thinks gay couples should be banned from B&Bs.

Update: The Ballad Of Not Reading In Gaol featuring Vanessa Redgrave!!!

Prisons: A Life Inside

The Terence Higgins Trust said that prison officers believed prisoners did have sex but that it was rare for people to be found engaging in sex. The trust said the fact that homophobic attitudes were more pronounced among young men inside jails than in the community could account for the reluctance of male prisoners to admit to sex with other men.
Sexual health workers used the term "heteroflexible" to describe men who identify themselves as heterosexual but are flexible about having sex with men while they are in prison. Prisoners serving longer sentences were more likely to acknowledge a gay identity. Although there is no prison rule banning sex between prisoners, prison staff do not allow prisoners to have sex. Prison governors say it is difficult, if not impossible, for prison staff to be able to distinguish between consensual and coercive sexual relationships between prisoners...

The Guardian - from a new report by the Howard League, Sex In Prison.

Most papers covered this - cause they know their readers really care about penal reform, and don't just want to read about MEN HAVING SEX IN PRISON!!!
The Sun's homepage trailed this story by claiming "gay lags" were secretly being given "contraceptives".
Presumably to stop the men conceiving?