Peter Blexley

Good morning.

Well, they were back in the day for a number of young men.

Not everybody, of course, but they did instill a sense of discipline.

They were built largely on sort of military-type regimes, and they knocked a lot of young men into shape, so to speak, who vowed then not to commit crimes.

Not everybody, of course.

But I think the more wider issue that I was trying to get at is that really we have a staggering lack of discipline in the UK.

And I think so much of it starts with parenting, where you have ridiculous parents who will say, well, I never use the word no to my children because it has such negative connotations.

And I think that's a foolish path to go down.

then in schools, discipline sometimes is not instilled in the children like it should have been.

So if you're not getting discipline at home and you're not getting discipline in the school, is it any surprise whatsoever that people grow up to be entitled people who want to shout, I know my rights,

but know very little about their responsibilities to society.

Yeah, but short-term jail sentences are often a complete and utter waste of time.

Longer jail sentences give the prison authorities the ability to work with an offender.

And, of course, if you are, say, separated from those that you love for 10, 12, 14 or more years, you have a lot of time to reflect upon your offending, the damage that you may have caused, and to address that and to learn and to grow and be educated, hopefully, within the prison estate.

So I'm a huge fan.

Absolutely, rehabilitation, punishment without rehabilitation is invariably almost always a waste of time.

Rehabilitation is absolutely fundamental and is key to anybody that finds themselves locked up for committing crimes.

I've met a number of people who have served lengthy jail terms and they've all gone on to reinvent themselves and

many of them to set up their own businesses, to pay taxes, to contribute to society, because they've realised that spending 10 or 12 Christmas days away from their loved ones is a sacrifice they don't want to go back to.

And consequently, they realise the error of their ways and then contribute.