Prisons nearly bursting, court cases backlogged, prisoners released early. It couldn't happen again, could it?

I'm Catherine Hadden and this is Inside Briefing, the podcast from the Institute for Government.

Well, the crisis in the

criminal justice system was one of the most pressing problems facing the Labor government

when it took office last summer. Reviews were commissioned into sentencing and trials, and a lot of

prisoners were controversially released early. It was a big call by then Justice Secretary,

now Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood.

Well, a brand new IFG report has dug deep into the state of prisons, courts, policing and more.

And you've guessed it, it's all looking pretty bleak. We're going to speak to its author about how

bad things could get and what, if anything, new Justice Secretary David

Lamy can do. And that's not the only story on the Home Affairs beat this week. The government's

inquiry into grooming gangs has run into problems after at least four members of the victims

and survivors panel quit in protest at how the government has handled the process so far. So a lot to

discuss and a very good week

to be joined by Danny Shaw. The BBC's former Home Affairs correspondent, a former advisor

in opposition to then Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, and now a freelance commentator.

Hi, Danny. Is Home Affairs ever a quiet beat as a journalist?

It's never quiet. There are always

scandals. There are always unexpected events coming up. And then there's always the sort of

steady drumbeat of crime stories and obviously immigration, which has been a major issue

for successive governments. And one of the issues that historically

has led to the downfall of Home Secretary's and Immigration Ministers.

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