Stop calling prisoners 'residents', jail staff told in new woke crackdown

28 April 2022, 05:59 | Updated: 28 April 2022, 07:02

Stop referring to prisoners as residents, jail staff have been told in a new "woke" crackdown.

A new style guide issued by Justice Secretary Dominic Raab says prison staff should avoid calling cells "rooms" and that people who have left jail should not be described as "service users" or "clients".

Instead, "prison leavers" or "ex-offenders" is preferred.

Sources in Government said Mr Raab wanted to end "woke" language and that more woolly phrasing around prisons had "damaged public confidence" in the jail system, The Times said.

Former HMP Five Wells governor John McLaughlin would call prisoners "residents" in a bid to help them get on with life after being behind bars, while Jo Farrar, who heads up the prison service, used the term when talking about giving more support to inmates so they can keep ties with family.

Read more: End of Sharia courts in jail: Crackdown on terrorists radicalising prisoners behind bars

The Deputy Prime Minister has publicly said he is more interested in reducing offending than debates around language.

It comes as Mr Raab announced new measures to stop terrorist prisoners from radicalising others behind bars.

Justice Secretary reacts to growth of terrorism in prisons

A damning prison report found Islamist inmates had used Sharia courts to punish prisoners, including by flogging.

A team will identify which terrorists are proving to be influential and then move them to one of three separation centres.

Speaking on LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast on Thursday, Mr Raab said: "We must not allow religious or cultural sensitivities - as important as they are - to deter us from clamping down and nipping in the bud early the precursor signs of radicalisation.”