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Prisons - new material (64)

01 August 2006

Blunket said he didn't care about lives. Prisoners should be "machine-gunned", David Narey. The Times 17.10.06, p 21. This article is a riposte to claims aired by ex-Home Secretary David Blunkett in his bibliography. In the book Blunkett accuses Narey, a former permanent secretary at the Home Office and director general of the prison service, of dithering over a prison riot at Lincoln in 2002. Narey presents his recollection of events, recalling that an "hysterical" Blunkett phoned him: "David was certainly furious. He was also hysterical. He directed me, without delay, to order staff back into the prison. I told him that we did not have enough staff in the prison to contemplate such a move but that many more staff were on their way from other prisons. I insisted, however, that although I was determined to take back the prison as soon as possible, I could not, and would not, risk staff or prisoner lives in attempting to do so. He shrieked at me that he didn't care about lives, told me to call up the Army and "machine-gun" the prisoners. He then ordered me to take back the prison immediately. I refused. David hung up."