On 3 November, Justice Secretary Liz Truss unveiled a White Paper detailing £1.3bn investment in new prisons over the next five years along with plans for 2,100 extra officers, drug tests and more autonomy for governors. On 7 November 200 inmates created a ‘riot’ at HMP Bedford. This followed the death of a prisoner in HMP Pentonville, the third in England this year. Violence in jails is rising. The number of assaults rose by 1/3rd to 23,775 in the year to June 2016. This week the Government took emergency court action when 10,000 prison officers in England and Wales stopped work over working conditions in jails, where drugs are rife, mobile phones are smuggled in to organise illegal prison activity, and there is understaffing. It is illegal for the profession to strike, but the Prison Officers Association says ‘protest action’ is needed to keep staff and inmates safe. The service is ‘in meltdown’.