On 24/01/2012 19:42, Bill Wright wrote:

The simple answer to the ballooning costs of the prisons would be to
take the tellys out of the cells, turn the heating down to 18deg, and
link food provided to work done. That way the prison population would
soon reduce.

You'll be somebody who doesn't know that putting telly in cells is about
reducing hassle and hence, not about providing a cushy environment for a
prisoner. A population doped up to the eyeballs with daytime telly is
rather more docile than one otherwise.