The Jihadi Jail: Ministers are ‘considering plans to house ALL the UK’s Islamic terrorists in a ‘British Alcatraz’

From the Times and the Daily Mail

A review of radicalisation in jails in England and Wales may support putting all Islamist terrorists into one unit to stop them preying on weak inmates. The terrorists would be locked up together in one “jihadi jail”, but the move would reverse a 50-year policy in which dangerous inmates are dispersed around eight jails.

The approach would reverse the current policy of dispersing dangerous inmates across six prisons – in place for 50 years – which stops them creating gangs and power structures within the jail.

The six units are in Frankland, near Durham, Full Sutton, near York, Long Lartin in Worcestershire, Wakefield in West Yorkshire, Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire, and Belmarsh, London.

And while such a prison could be created in one of the already existing jails, an entirely new unit could not be ruled out. The proposal to hold terrorists separately has been suggested in discussions as part of a review ordered by Michael Gove and carried out by Ian Acheson, a former prison governor.

The Ministry of Justice has categorically denied any concrete plans to create such a prison, claiming that it does not form any part of reviews or discussions on reform.  But ministers are expected to back the idea of segregating them, which is the approach adopted by the French penal system.

One prison source told The Times it would be best to maintain the the ability to move prisoners, but agreed it would be good to segregate them to stop them ‘infecting other inmates with their views

There are concerns that putting all radicals in one prison, or secure units within jails, would create a focal point for protest, something that could be considered a British Guantanamo Bay. Not if it was somewhere difficult to get to. One of the reasons HMP Parkhurst was, in it’s day, a feared placement was the difficultly of getting on and off the island. The Isle of Wight is a heavily populated island, but there are others, less built up. Cf HMP Dartmoor.

….also concerns that it could lead to power structures within the prisons that could be used to intimidate guards. 

Earlier this week, the Prime Minister said ministers were considering the plans as part of the Government’s renewed crackdown on extremism in UK jails.

‘We will not stand by and watch people being radicalised like this while they are in the care of the state,’ Mr Cameron declared today in a major speech on prison reform – the first by a prime minister solely on jails in two decades. And I want to be clear: I am prepared to consider major changes: from the imams we allow to preach in prison to changing the locations and methods for dealing with prisoners convicted of terrorism offences, if that is what is required.’ 

It isn’t just keeping them away from other prisoners – there will need to be a system of keeping them away from each other. The old penitentiary system (Millbank and Lincoln) did just that and while it had its flaws I am sure that it is worth considering a 21st century version. Remember we are dealing with a culture that mandates seclusion, isolation and anonymity for its womenfolk. I’m sure the men could adapt to a regime similar to the one they impose on their mothers, wives and sisters.