Hidden Agendas Politics, Law and Disorder

In 1992, Derek Lewis – a highly successful television executive – was approached by a firm of head-hunters about the possibility of running the UK Prison Service. As the first Director General of the new semi-autonomous prison agency, and the only high-profile outsider ever hired to head the service, he was soon caught up in the web of self-interest and hidden agendas being pursued by politicians and public services alike. Prisons were alien and often violent places where antiquated conditions – overcrowding, slopping-out, drugs and intermittent rioting – co-existed with luxurious new blocks, the costs of which had spiralled out of control. Too often management and politicians had given in to the demands of prisoners and the prison officers’ union. Still more bizarre were the ponderous rituals and circumlocutions of the Home Office, where debate displaced action and long hours were wasted discussing whether first names should be used in the office. The advent of Michael Howard as Home Secretary coincided with a run of dramatic prison riots and escapes, and the punitive and political aspects of prison were emphasised at the expense of rehabilitation. This is Lewis’s account of prison politics, and of the events leading up to his eventual sacking by the new Home Secretary.