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LABOUR MP Grahame Morris hit out at the Tory government today for failing to table “desperately needed” legislation in last week’s Queen’s Speech to tackle worsening prison violence.
The MP for Easington in County Durham said ministers were not doing enough to protect vulnerable prison officers from assaults at work, despite “nodding their approval” on calls for action during debates in the Commons.
A Prisons Violence Bill proposed by the back-bencher, who has long campaigned for workers in the sector via the justice unions parliamentary group, failed to get on to the statue book before Parliament’s last session ended in April.
Addressing the penultimate day of the Prison Officers’ Association’s (POA) annual conference, the MP stressed that a “lack of recognition, poor pay and dangerous conditions” for the sector’s workers would not be solved without political will.
“All too often prison officers are overlooked,” he told delegates in Eastbourne. “We stood and clapped for front-line workers at the height of the pandemic.
“We should never forget the contribution that was made by prison officers to maintaining the vital infrastructure of our society and keeping us safe.
“We can all remember the warm words and gestures from government ministers. Sadly, but not unsurprisingly, this hasn’t materialised into real-world thanks in terms of pay rises and genuine improvements to terms and conditions.”
Mr Morris, who chairs the Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East group, also urged his own party to embrace more policies popular with working-class voters, suggesting Labour had to give them more of a “peg to hang their hat on.”
He thanked the union for its long-standing support of the Durham Miners’ Gala, set to return this July after the 2020 and 2021 festivals were cancelled due to coronavirus.