David Lammy – 2020 Comments on Self-Harm Incidents in Custody

Comments made by David Lammy, the Shadow Justice Secretary, on 30 July 2020.

The fact that we are witnessing record levels of self-harm in our prisons is deeply alarming. It comes following 10 years of cuts that have left prisons overcrowded and understaffed.

These statistics show the massive scale of this problem even before emergency lockdown measures were introduced to the prison estate. With prisoners isolated in their cells for 23 hours per day during the pandemic, the number that are self-harming may have further increased.

It is vital that prisoners get access to the mental health support they need, which will also help them rehabilitate.