Responsible Members of Society

Those charming people at Serco and G4S have made payouts to fourteen people who were assaulted while being detained in New Labour's "secrure training centres", which in Oldspeak would be designated child prisons. The companies have declared themselves innocent of all wrongdoing although, as with the Metropolitan Firearms and Headbangers' Club, it remains unclear how they manage to keep hiring bad apples in such impressive and regular quantities. The companies' contracts with the Government state that force can only be used as a last resort, in order to prevent injury or damage; but those charming people at Serco and G4S, like the Ministry of Justice, evidently take a liberal attitude to the mere letter of the law. On the bright side, the régime has resulted in a high rate of re-offending, to the continued profit of Serco and G4S; and at least one former detainee committed suicide rather than be re-arrested, which certainly testifies to the lack of a holiday-camp atmosphere in the child prison system. Fortunately, lessons have been learned: children are still having their limbs broken by Government contractors, but the Government refuses to say what level of force is authorised in case the children learn to fight back.