“The regime in too many prisons is one of idleness, and locking up someone from such a background in idleness virtually guarantees re-offending. Instead there needs to be a full day's work every weekday in either the workshops or the education department or preferably a mixture of both.”

British politician and media personality

Ann Widdecombe is a British politician and media personality. A Conservative MP from 1987 to 2010, she represented Maidstone and The Weald, and earlier Maidstone, in the House of Commons. She later joined the Brexit Party, later Reform UK, in 2019. She served as a Member of the European Parliament for South West England from 2019 to 2020, and as the party’s immigration and justice spokesperson from 2023 until 2026.