A damning assessment of Britain's jails by the Prison Officers Association secretary general, Glyn Travis, is pounced on in today's papers.
"Criminals break in to our soft jails," with the "in" underlined, is the front page headline in the Mail. "Drug dealers are breaking into jails to sell their wares to inmates....and prisoners are passing up the chance of escape because they prefer to be behind bars where drugs are cheaper and life is easier."
Travis is quoted as saying drugs are cheaper in jails than on the outside - which begs the question as to why a drug dealer would break in to deal drugs.
The Express goes for "Luxury life in our jails" on its front page. "Life is so cushy in Britain's jails that inmates are ignoring the chance to escape," it reports. "Drugs are so cheap that prisoners are smuggling them back out to sell on the street for a profit."
It goes on: "Convicts are treated to breakfast in bed, TV sets in their cells and even cash bonuses for good behaviour."
The Mail editorial blasts: "Perhaps if we spent a little less money making life easy for inmates, we could afford more prison places and wouldn't have to let dangerous criminals out early because there is nowhere to put them."
A Ministry of Justice spokesman today suggested some of the claims had been exaggerated, adding: "The punishment of the court is loss of liberty - harsh regimes do not lead to rehabilitation or a reduction in re-offending."
Do you agree with him? Is loss of liberty enough or are prisons losing their ability to act as a deterrent?
This is an edited extract from the Wrap, our digest of the daily papers.
