Britain cannot build its way out of prisons crisis, Justice Secretary tells MPs

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said an independent review of sentencing would also lead to more capacity in prisons (Stefan Rousseau/PA) - (PA Wire)

Britain cannot solely fix its problems with a lack of prison places by just building more prisons, the Justice Secretary has said, amid warnings that existing jails are “little more than human warehouses”.

Shabana Mahmood said she will publish a “realistic” plan later this week to build 14,000 spaces, but cautioned that “we simply cannot build out way out of this problem”.