wt" “ruin fishmit wflfllrult wm ii‘ul‘ei from a document about the role played by prisons? yes. this is the prisons and courts bill. this is the definition of what prison means. and they have taken out the word punishment, which brings up the whole question of what they are for. we know that the prison system is under pressure and it seems to be failing. it seems to be failing prisoners who go on to reoffend. we have seen massive cuts, this is the old argument, what is prison for? if you look at countries across europe, the netherlands and sweden, they have got a bit of a crisis, in that they can't fill prison cells. that is because they have taken a policy of rehabilitation. so, when somebody goes into in the netherlands or in sweden, they concentrate on getting them rhys gill. what we are seeing

is that reoffending rates are rising, crime levels are rising, something is clearly not working. and this subtle removal of the word perhaps signifies the direction of this government and what they want to do and how they want to reform the justice system in this country bridge be working. liz truss will be at used by some of going soft?” at used by some of going soft?|j would at used by some of going soft?” would say it is a badge of honour for her that she is being attacked by mick davies, the tory mp. he's at using her of by mick davies, the tory mp. he's at using herof being by mick davies, the tory mp. he's at using her of being one of the liberal lefties, as he puts it. i don't know what are the sort of lefties there are full stop it is a weird phrase. according to mr davies, he says people having their freedom taken away is a punishment in itself. too many people, it is not. i really can't disagree with that more. as you said, laura, the point of prison is to stop people going back in prison. figures show that if prisoners go on rehabilitation programmes and have education, taught music, drama,

dance, the levels of reoffending dropped by 20% or more. we don't wa nt dropped by 20% or more. we don't want people to go back to prison. if we are treating them like students ina we are treating them like students in a school of crime, and some of them here have been pictured drinking alcohol and taking drugs, and even frying steaks, they're never going to reform them. and even frying steaks, they're never going to reform themm and even frying steaks, they're never going to reform them. it talks about what the victims of some of those criminal acts want to see done to the perpetrators. of course there is an element of retribution, and that's quite right, particularly if you have been the victim of a terrible crime. however, if you want that person not to commit that crime again, i would argue that you should be treating them as potential reformees rather than as potential criminals. or as people who have been failed at some point in their life. the question is, why are they there? inside, this isjustine

greening's views on grammar schools? yes. i thinkjustine greening in many ways is an impressive minister, but she was with john humphrys this morning, trying to define what it means, ordinary working families. the phrase makes my skin creep. what does ordinary means? it has smacked of patronising, i think. and also, it seems to exclude the very disadvantaged, because it's people with a household income of around 30 3000. there are many people unfortunately are much less than that. is she saying she's only going to be interested in those people, give them this supposedly up, and she is declining to say whether they would be quotas? if she does want to change the class, if you like, all those people who are admitted? that is the point, how do you redefine the admission process to enable this policy to be seen through? and she would not go that far this morning,

when she was pushed! she said, we will be setting it out in the white paper in due course. but something is going to have to change. if you have grammar schools, often it becomes a more affluent area, and it pushes people out. so children from poorerfamilies aren't pushes people out. so children from poorer families aren't living in the areas where they would have access to grammar schools. if you have a bit of money, and you know there is a good grammar score, you will probably try and move there to send your child there. and if you can afford to do so, you will then pay for tutoring. that is the argument. the criticism of this policy, of labour, and of the teaching unions, is that actually we are seeing huge cuts in schools, shouldn't we be focusing on putting more money into the state system instead of building a whole new raft of new schools, when the ones we've got already aren't doing thejob when the ones we've got already aren't doing the job they are meant to be doing? good points, yes. let's ta ke to be doing? good points, yes. let's take the front page of the

independent, this picture of president assad, the interview he has done nearly he has gone arguably further than he has gone before, in suggesting that the attack that we have all seen pictures of didn't happen at all. i thought i could no longer be horrified by president assad, but i was when i saw this interview today. i was genuinely shocked that he should claim it's fa ke shocked that he should claim it's fake news, and the outrageous suggestion that somehow these children were pretending to be dead. i think that's absolutely disgusting that he said that and i'm not saying that he said that and i'm not saying that i have the to that problem, but he is clearly, in my eyes, not the solution. it's such a vile man and he has created such misery, half a million people have been killed, half the population has been turned into refugees. he is an absolute monster, as president trump said the other day, and today's interview only confirm that. in the daily telegraph today, we are now

referring to him as assad, not mr assad. really? and that is something we only do for criminals. that's very interesting. the times, two stories i want to mention, facebook? the times have been really going on this, and rightfully so. they reported to facebook that they could see inappropriate images of children, child abuse, on facebook, alerted the organisation to these images, and yet they still were not reviewed. the nspcc today are calling for there to be a statutory code of conduct, so that these social networking sites have to comply with certain standards. at the moment, it seems they are making up the rules and constantly being alerted and not taking action. you sense pressure is growing along these lines? you do, and it plays to

these lines? you do, and it plays to the idea that the internet to a degree is still the wild west and that people do what they like and think they can get away with it. louise haig, the shadow digital minister, has written to facebook saying that she thinks their reporting regime is obviously flawed and has multiple failures. and certainly the evidence uncovered by the times and the nspcc would back that up. the other story on the times front page is this drug giant's secret plan to destroy cancer medicine...? i sound like i made chuntering kernel from royal tunbridge wells, but i am very shocked by this story as well! you're going to be constantly shocked by everything we have!” you're going to be constantly shocked by everything we have! i am really shocked by this, the allegation is that a drugs company has been possibly deliberately hiking the price, and even, it is

suggested, destroying a life—saving drug, in orderto suggested, destroying a life—saving drug, in order to facilitate a 4000% price—wise on a cancer drug. i find that truly horrendous.” price—wise on a cancer drug. i find that truly horrendous. i think it was that 4000% figure which struck you both, laura ? was that 4000% figure which struck you both, laura? yes. it'sjust... it is truly horrifying, and there is actually a lot in the paper that you wa nt to actually a lot in the paper that you want to get through. they have got a printout of the e—mails. want to get through. they have got a printout of the e-mails. it is quite an extensive investigation? they have done a good job. it says, i think the only option would be to donate or destroy the stock. the e—mailends, donate or destroy the stock. the e—mail ends, let's celebrate. donate or destroy the stock. the e-mail ends, let's celebrate. it's pretty sickening. but are other companies doing this? after 20 yea rs, companies doing this? after 20 years, i think other companies cannot even buy the patent of a drug, and therefore the competition has gone, and they can set the prices. i believe there is some

legislation going through parliament now which will allow the government to intervene and make prices lower if they think they are excessive. to intervene and make prices lower if they think they are excessivem the interests of fairness, the company in question, the chief executive has said this, and i quote... the price rises were at levels appropriate to promote long—term, sustainable supply to patients and had been increased from, quote, a very low and unsustainable base. you both seem keen to talk about this, life on saturn, possibly, from the daily mail! can you sing it to the tune of life on mars?! no, actually! even with the quake and on the piano, that would be difficult. that's a joke for the older viewers! straight over my head! this is one of saturn's i icy moons. called enceladus. it sounds like a rick

wakeman album! they have found all the right elements, the water, the ice, geothermal activity... they will find a shopping centre there! with abandoned trolleys — in the icy lake! ifind with abandoned trolleys — in the icy lake! i find it with abandoned trolleys — in the icy lake! ifind it hard with abandoned trolleys — in the icy lake! i find it hard to get worked up lake! i find it hard to get worked up about this. we have got nasa saying it is a new frontier. but there is so much going on on our planet that i'm worried about. we have got mr trump cropping the largest bomb since the second world war. the fact that there is an icy like on saturn... mind you, if there was life on saturn, that could be a nice distraction. talking of nice destructions, we have 30 seconds to talk takes, break—off, channelli, etc? i love the fact that somehow the daily telegraph has managed to concoct a row about it already. this

is massive, because the scrums are the cornish fashion, which isjam before queen, and of course, that is heresy, if you are from devon. —— jam before cream. and i don't think he has overstated this at all! have you got a strong view on it, laura? it is jam you got a strong view on it, laura? it isjam on you got a strong view on it, laura? it is jam on cream. so i think i am cornish on this one! i'm very glad that we're discussing this when the world is being systematically destroyed! and possible life on saturn. , but there is nothing so important as the devon versus cornwall scone row. that's it for the papers tonight. don't forget, you can see the front pages of the papers online on the bbc news website. the weather is looking fairly quiet

for most of us this evening. not much is going to be changing in the next few hours. what we have got right now is what we will have from the rest of this evening and overnight. mostly light rain, and in the south, clearer spells and 8 degrees in plymouth, liverpool, newcastle. in lerwick, closer to four. tomorrow there will be more cloud around, for sure. most of the rain should not be too heavy. even if you're on the coast looking out to sea, the weather might end up being relatively sunny. by the time we get to the midlands, wales, the

north—west, northern ireland, southern scotland, here, at lunchtime, there will be more cloud, a bit of rain around, and the western isles of scotland once again getting further showers. you can see the weather fronts moving across the uk. they will be moving further south. saturday, cold air coming from the north. by the time it reaches our shores, rather than being cold, it will be cool. a fairly fresh but sunny day on the way on saturday. i would say saturday is going to be the best day of the easter weekend, because there is going to be a lot of dry, sunny weather. sunday, easter day, another weather. sunday, easter day, another weather front stuck just to the north of us, perhaps a bit more cloud and spots of rain across northern england and northern ireland. i think the best chance of sunshine will be across the south

and the south—west. into monday, some of us will have cloud, others will have a bit of sunshine and maybe a few shakes. all in all, the easter weekend is not looking that bad, but not that great, either. this is bbc news, i'm julian worricker. the headlines at 11:00pm: syria's president assad says claims that his forces launched a chemical attack killing dozens of civilians earlier this month are 100% fabrication. translation: the west, mainly the united states, is hand in glove with the terrorists. they fabricated the whole story in order to have a pretext for the attack. the american military has dropped its biggest non—nuclear bomb, on a series of caves used by so—called islamic state in eastern afghanistan. new grammar schools in england should to do more to help ordinary working families, says the education secretary. and coming up on newsnight: the us

has dropped the biggest conventional weapon it has ever used today. is thatjust a way of blowing up isis tunnels, or is us it telling us