THE EARL OF MANSFIELDasked Her Majesty's Government whether, in order to discourage crimes of violence, they will consider the advisability of introducing, for persons convicted of such crimes, a type of imprisonment much more rigorous than that at present in force, accompanied by a return to the system of genuine "hard labour."
THE JOINT PARLIAMENTARY UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (LORD LLOYD)Past experience has shown that rigorous and unpleasant conditions of imprisonment are not of themselves successful as a deterrent and Her Majesty's Government have no reason to believe that the restoration of the old type of "hard labour," or of any similar system, would be effective in diminishing crimes of violence. The Criminal Justice Act, 1948, introduced new methods of dealing with offenders, including a provision, which is being widely used by the courts, for long sentences of preventive detention for persistent offenders. Majesty's Government are watching the situation closely, but they think that it would be premature to propose any fundamental change in the present penal system until there has been a considerably longer experience of these new methods.
House adjourned at twenty-four minutes past six o'clock