Ministry of Justice Lists Ashwell Prison as Possible Emigration Removal Center

It would now appear that Ashwell Prison has just been listed by the Ministry of Justice as a possible location for another emigration removal center. This would mean that Ashwell Prison would finally get to rise from its ashes after being destroyed in a riot last year. However, the government is refusing to confirm or deny the prison's future right now.

Either way, Alan Duncan, MP for Rutland and Melton, is currently fighting the proposal. In a letter to the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of the State of Justice, Jack Straw, Alan said that he is wholly opposed to this in every conceivable respect. He went on to say that he cannot think of a single convincing argument for making such a change.

Alan went on to add that he would be very grateful if they might be able to discuss, at this early stage, how this unsettling proposal might be immediately abandoned. Right now it is understood that the government put the center on the list shortly after the 21 hour riot last April, which destroyed about 75 percent of the buildings.

Alan, who is shadow prisons secretary, is now trying to set up a meeting with Mr Straw to make his views well known. He wants to point out that the Prison Service is bursting at the seams and in need of more spaces, and Ashwell is a popular prison locally. Before the riots on April 11^th, the jail held 611 inmates and had a maximum capacity of 619. Thus, it is very easy to see that this was a jail that was in heavy demand.