BOOKS FOR PRISONERS

That this House is deeply concerned by the ban on all prisoners receiving books as gifts under the Incentives and Earned Privileges Scheme which will have a detrimental effect on prisoner rehabilitation; notes that the ban has been opposed by eminent writers including Mark Haddon, Philip Pullman and Carol Ann Duffy; further notes that to deny prisoners the books they need in order to improve their skills and support their learning is both unreasonable and counter-productive given that reading goes hand-in-hand with education, rehabilitation and humanity; and urges the Government to reverse the ban as soon as possible by exempting books from the Incentives and Earned Privileges Scheme.