GB News star Martin Daubney was left speechless after he was told that prison guards in Britain were unable to speak adequate English.
Reform’s policing and crime boss Colin Sutton told the presenter that due to the quantity of prison officers recruited from skilled-worker visas from overseas “who don’t have decent English”, the guards are being given language flashcards.
“They issue them with common commands to show the prisoners so they can tell them what they want them to do,” Mr Sutton explained.
“You know, you hold something up saying ‘go back in your cell’, ‘put your lights out’ or whatever.”
The problems within the prison system are being consistently exposed, most recently by the accidental release of the Ethiopian sex offender Hadush Kebatu from HMP Chelmsford on Friday.
“If we’ve got staff like that who have difficulty in understanding English, both written and spoken, is it any surprise that these accidents will happen?” Mr Sutton fumed down the line.
The shocking revelation left the GB News presenter flabbergasted as a moment of silence descended between the two.
Martin admitted: “I’m lost for words.
The GB News star was left flabbergasted
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GB NEWS
“You’re actually saying that prison wardens can’t speak adequate English, so they’re wearing signs around their neck with basic commands on it?”
“As I understand, they have a stack of cards that have the different commands written on them, and whatever the command they want to give, they hold up the appropriate card,” Mr Sutton gravely confirmed.
“It’s not often on this show, you’ll find me at a complete and utter loss for words, but I am,” Martin responded honestly.
Mr Sutton offered murmurs of agreements, saying that was “how he felt when he heard the news”.
Since Labour commenced its crackdown on migration, at least 1,000 foreign jail workers have been recruited in a bid to lessen the blow of understaffing.
However, they could face losing their job as the salary threshold for foreign skilled workers has been hiked from £29,000 a year to £41,700.
Admitting that Britain is enduring a “shortage” of workers, Mr Sutton said: “You’ve got these cases where people are being released and that relies, of course, it relies upon communication, both written and verbal.”
He added that he hoped that the investigation would unveil whether language barriers impacted the quality of the prison service up and down the nation.
Their discussion came just moments after Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy announced an independent investigation into the accidental release of Kebatu.
Speaking to MPs in the House of Commons, the Labour minister added that the early release scheme for prisoners up and down the nation is due to face a radical overhaul of release rules.
He further confirmed that His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service are now investigating the matter, adding that victims will be spoken to as part of the probe.
Former Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner Dame Lynne Owens will chair the independent inquiry.