UK slammed for large prison population

Politicians in the United Kingdom have been urged to lead a public debate on the best way to punish criminals after it emerged that England and Wales are putting more people behind bars than any other country in Western Europe.

The Prison Reform Trust, which campaigns for improvements to the penal system, said such a discussion was overdue.

Peter Dawson, the organization's director, unveiled a report on Monday that shows more than 140,000 people were incarcerated in England and Wales in 2017, which was 40,000 more admissions than in Germany, which had the second-highest prison population, despite having 24 million more people in its overall population than the combined populations of England and Wales.