Luke Taylor

Luke Taylor

Liberal Democrat — Sutton and Cheam

Speaking in the House of Commons on 10 November 2026

Debate

Tackling Recidivism

Contribution

The outgoing chief inspector of prisons said last week that organised gangs are using drones to smuggle up to 10 kg of drugs into prison at a time, and claimed that up to a quarter of prisoners admit to having developed a habit in prison because drugs are so rife. The Independent newspaper reported Charlie Taylor saying that many prisoners are leaving custody “doomed to come back” because they are not being rehabilitated. He claimed that the “public are not being protected properly” when prisoners are freed because their risk has not been reduced. In the year to March ’26, drugs were discovered in UK prisons 26,630 times—up by nearly a third from five years ago. Does the Minister agree that those in prison, and particularly those in for drug-related offences, stand little chance of turning their lives around and reducing their chances of reoffending on release if they are still routinely exposed to the evils of drugs?

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