Giving Prison Officers Pepper Spray 'Will Worsen Conflict' theguardian.com

A former prison governor has criticised a decision to arm prison officers with pepper spray, saying it is part of a downward spiral that will worsen a culture of conflict in a system already in crisis.

John Podmore, who turned Brixton prison in south London from Britain’s worst performing jail to its most improved, said the move – announced by Rory Stewart, the prisons minister, in the Sun on Tuesday – “is not going to help the control that’s been lost in many prisons at the moment”.