Prisons minister Jeremy Wright says rules introduced in November were not about banning books but 'sensible security precautions'
Jeremy Wright, the prisons minister, has ruled out a change in new rules from the Ministry of Justice that in effect bans prisoners in England and Wales from being sent books by families and friends, despite an avalanche of criticism from authors and prison reformers.
Wright told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that the rules introduced in November were not about banning books but "sensible security precautions" to prevent items such as drugs being sent to prisoners. Friends and families could always send money to prisoners so they could buy books, he added.
The rules put in place a blanket ban on families sending in small items to prisoners. "The general presumption will be that items for prisoners will not be handed in or sent in by their friends or families unless there are exceptional circumstances," says the MoJ.
The measures have sparked anger among authors such as Mark Haddon and Philip Pullman, who have described the rules as "despicable". Haddon told Today that prisoners will have little money to spend on books and will have to order books from a special catalogue.
Even senior Conservatives who normally support the justice minister, Chris Grayling, are bemused by the row.
One senior Tory minister told the Daily Mail: "Chris Grayling wins the prize for the government's least enlightened minister. He has no backing for this from any quarter at all."
The row began after Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, wrote an essay for the website Politics.co.uk laying out how "from now on, any man, woman or child in prison will not be able to receive a book from outside", and called the situation "part of an increasingly irrational punishment regime orchestrated by Chris Grayling (justice secretary) that grabs headlines but restricts education or rehabilitation".
Crook said banning books was in some ways "the most despicable and nastiest element" of the new rules.
"These new restrictions relate to a downgrading of the system of rewards and punishments, ostensibly designed to encourage prisoners to comply with prison rules," she said. "Yet the ban on receiving books is a blanket decision, so no matter how compliant and well behaved you are, no prisoner will be allowed to receive books from outside."
Crook said the new rules also banned families from sending small items to prisoners, including homemade birthday cards, specialist magazines and some clothing, such as underwear.
The new rules also saw convicted prisoners required to wear prison uniform for the first two weeks of their sentence. Many prisoners also lost their automatic daily access to a gym and to daytime television. The change in the punishment system in jails in England and Wales also meant individual prison governors lost much of their discretion over which perks and privileges could be used to reward good behaviour, which are now prescribed nationally by the MoJ.
The ban on books being sent to prisoners by families and friends is part of a new "incentives and earned privileges" regime, which allows prisoners access to funds to buy books and other items as they move up from "basic" level.
Justice ministry officials say lifting the ban on sending in books would undermine the basis of the new regime.
A Change.org petition has been started, calling on Grayling to "urgently review and amend your new rules which restrict prisoners access to books and family items". It already has more than 10,000 signatures.
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