Something interesting is going on in the criminal justice system that I suspect we’re going to hear more and more about. As part of what could be a revolution in right-wing thinking about dealing with crime and its causes, the Government is splashing out £1.3 billion on new prisons. The plan is to replace outdated Victorian institutions – those buildings that sit like grounded hulks in the middle of our cities – with prisons suited to the 21st century that will have education at their heart. Michael Gove, the Justice Secretary, will oversee it all; his guiding principle will be the rehabilitation of prisoners. Admittedly this is taking place alongside massive overall cuts and has a lot to do with selling off prime real estate, but the idea is a good one for two reasons. First, if you don’t rehabilitate offenders, there’s no point sending them to prison in the first place. We punish people who commit crimes “as a precaution against future offences of the same kind”, said William Blackstone as long ago as the 1760s. But today more than half of prisoners go on to reoffend on release: crime is reduced only while the cell door is locked shut. Secondly, prioritising rehabilitation is morally the right thing to do. Winston Churchill recognised this as a great reforming home secretary before the First World War. There must be a “constant heart-searching by all charged with the duty of punishment, a desire and eagerness to rehabilitate in the world of industry all those who have paid their dues in the hard coinage of punishment,” he said. Churchill had been held captive by the Boers; he knew the agony of whiling away the hours, days and weeks with nothing to stimulate the mind. Prisoners “must have food for thought,” he told a friend. Education would stop them wasting their lives. I hope Gove gets it right. For the state to take away someone’s liberty is a big step. It is second only, I would argue, to confiscating their children. If the justice system was fulfilling its grave duty, it would be locking up offenders – but releasing them as law-abiding citizens.