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British Prisons : A " Spectator " Enquiry The official visit of the Home Secretary to a number of English prisons, the prospect of early legislation bearing on prison conditions and the recent publication of a number of books on the subject by ex-prisoners and others, emphasises the importance of an impartial and objective survey of British prisons as they are. Such a survey has just been undertaken, at the instance of The Spectator, by Major Lawrence Athill, whose name is already familiar to regular readers of this journal. Major Athill has in the past six weeks visited a number of prisons of different types in England and Scotland, starting with no a priori views regarding prison conditions, and instructed, so far as The Spectator is concerned, simply to present things as they are, praising without whitewashing and criticising without damning. The conclusions he has reached are based on many con- versations with convicts and ex-convicts as well as with officials, and take full account of all recent books of import- ance on the British prison system. The first of the series of articles in which the survey is presented will appear in The Spectator next week.
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