Canary in the goldmine?

We've always had a soft spot for the Chief Inspector of Prisons. Not necessarily the current incumbent, Anne Owers (although she may be red hot, we don't know), but for the office itself. And mainly because the office seems to be a lightning rod for government criticism, and a pretty good signal of when a government is in trouble.

Owers has come out all guns blazing this morning, attacking the government in harsh terms for their prisons strategy, dissing plans for "super-prisons", and generally getting all super-independent on the government's sorry ass.

David Ramsbotham, who was inspector of prisons from 1995 to 2001, paints a picture of the Home Office as dysfunctional, paranoid and institutionally incapable of doing anything other than protecting itself. His predecessor, Stephen Tumim, was appointed by Douglas Hurd but later fell out with Michael Howard. Prisons really did for Howard two years later, when he sacked Derek Lewis and got eviscerated on Newsnight by Jeremy Paxman (an interview that Paxman has been phoning in ever since).

So Straw and Howard have this in common: they have both fallen out with two different prison inspectors - Howard with Tumim and Ramsbotham, Straw with Ramsbotham and Owers. Now, ask yourself the question: if the Home Secretary or Justice Secretary is institutionally unable to get on with the Chief Inspector of Prisons, what does that say for Britain's criminal management strategy?