Former justice secretary Chris Grayling MP is to come under fire as David Cameron plans to blast the “failure” of the current prison scheme as “scandalous” in a speech later today.

Surrey Comet:

David Cameron will say the "failure" of the current prison scheme is "scandalous" in a speech later today

The Prime Minister will also outline plans for six ‘reform prisons’ to be built in unnamed locations in England and Wales and promise to protect the £130m prison education budget.

Legislation is expected to follow Mr Cameron’s speech, further undoing Mr Grayling’s work as justice secretary.

According to the BBC, Mr Cameron will say that “current levels of prison violence, drug-taking and self-harm should shame us all, with a typical week seeing 600 incidents of self-harm, at least one suicide and 350 assaults including 90 on staff across the UK.

Figures published by the Ministry of Justice last week showed that 89 of the country’s prisoners took their own lives last year.

According to the BBC, Mr Cameron will say: "We need prisons. Some people - including, of course, rapists, murderers, child abusers, gang leaders - belong in them.

"For me, punishment - that deprivation of liberty - is not a dirty word.

"I also strongly believe that we must offer chances to change; that for those trying hard to turn themselves around, we should offer hope; that in a compassionate country, we should help those who've made mistakes to find their way back onto the right path."

It is the latest in a series of public embarrassments for Epsom and Ewell MP Chris Grayling over his tenure as justice secretary.

From February 1: Chris Grayling admits to 'robust discussions' with prisons inspector following allegations he tried to influence a report

From February 5: Justice Secretary Michael Gove to undo Epsom and Ewell MP Chris Grayling's controversial £100million legal aid reforms

Last week, current justice secretary Michael Gove (pictured below) announced plans to remove Mr Grayling’s policy of slashing rates of pay for representing defendants in police stations and magistrates’ courts by 8.75 per cent.

Surrey Comet:

This legal aid reform was one of a package of widely-unpopular reforms Mr Grayling made in his time as Justice Secretary – between 2012 and 2015 – which triggered the first-ever strike by criminal barristers in March 2014.

Chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, Frances Crook, welcomed Mr Cameron’s proposals for prison reform.

She said: “Prisons are currently violent and overcrowded. As such, they fail everyone: victims, the public, staff and prisoners themselves.

“Prison reform, however, is the tip of the iceberg. Improved education and increased autonomy for governors will not work if there are people crammed into filthy institutions with no staff to open the cell doors.

“We need action now to tackle sentence inflation and the profligate use of prison. Then the Prime Minister’s vision can become a reality.”

Chris Grayling told the Epsom Guardian: "I have nothing to add. It was a good speech.

"It builds on what I was already doing."

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