§ 50. Lieut.-Colonel Liptonasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will set up an independent committee of inquiry into the present conditions at Wandsworth gaol.
§ Sir D. Maxwell FyfeNo, Sir. I do not think that any useful purpose would be served by such an inquiry.
§ Lieut.-Colonel LiptonIs the Home Secretary aware that the potentially dangerous atmosphere that prevails at Wandsworth is aggravated by just the kind of attitude of which he has given us an example today? Does he not think that an independent inquiry would at least uncover some of the facts and indicate what immediate action can be taken to improve what is easily the most horrible prison in the whole country?
§ Sir D. Maxwell FyfeI am satisfied that there is available to me through the Prison Commissioners adequate and, indeed, exhaustive information about the conditions at Wandsworth. The prison is now quiet, and it would be a pity to disturb that quiet by an inquiry that would inevitably take place on the spot and could not but produce a considerable ferment.
§ Mr. YatesIs the right hon. and learned Gentleman aware that in the Adjournment debate the answer given by the Joint Under-Secretary in regard to the appalling conditions that were disclosed was totally unsatisfactory? Therefore, will the Home Secretary not seriously consider the suggestion made by the Estimates Committee two years ago that there should be an inquiry into conditions such as are disclosed at the prison?
§ Sir D. Maxwell FyfeI cannot agree that what my hon. Friend said was unsatisfactory. But I am quite unsatisfied with prison conditions in this country, as every Home Secretary for the last 10 years has been. I am doing my utmost to find improvements in every way possible within the financial limitations.