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PICTURED: Prime Minister Boris Johnson talks with prison staff during a visit to HMP Leeds

PRIME MINISTER Boris Johnson, has today announced a pledge of £100m to prisons with the view to reform prisoners in an attempt to cut down on the spiraling levels of crime in the country. Mr Johnson, who also recently announced stronger powers will be given to officers to enforce stop and search, has made it one of his top priorities to crack down on crime inside and outside of prisons, since succeeding Theresa May in Number 10 Downing Street.

The PM hopes to bring more security to prisons with the introduction of devices such as X-ray scanners and metal detectors in a measure he feels will inhibit inmates’ access to drugs, weapons and mobile phones.

Mr Johnson said the extra funding would tackle head on all types of crime both inside and outside of prisons and work to eliminate the issues of drug smuggling, violence, self-harm and external gang related activity which the current cause of problems within the prison service.

Opposition party, Labour, however, feel that the pledge falls way short financially in accomplishing what the government have set out to do with it, with prison violence in particular being a huge concern and challenge for those put in the frontline to deal with it.

Recently, the government has also been heavily criticized over the tough stance they have opted to take in dealing with crime and violence with the announcement of stronger powers to be put in place for officers to stop and search. Many of the concerns raised are stem from the fairness in use of the deterrent in light of the fact that data from the Home Office reveals that black people in England and Wales are 40 times more likely to be searched under Section 60 powers than white people.

Addressing the new stop-and-search proposals, Shadow Home Secretary, Diane Abbott, said: “Evidence-based stop-and-search will always be a useful tool for police officers…but random stop-and-search is a tried and tested method for exacerbating community relations.”

On the matter of the funding being promised to tackle crime at all levels including the promise of the creation of 10,000 more prisons alongside the recruitment of 20,000 more police officers, Ms Abbott said: “There’s been a whole series of these announcements and Boris doesn’t quite explain how he’d pay for it (all).”