CEP Senior Advisor Ian Acheson writes: "he spasm of violent disorder that has gripped England and Northern Ireland over the last week has thrown the issue of prison capability back into the spotlight. Before the brutal murders of three children in Southport, it looked just about possible for our national jail service, running at 99% capacity, to stagger over the line in September when the reduction in time served by the incoming government from 50% to 40% took hold and gave some respite."

Former prison governor Ian Acheson, an adviser to think tank the Counter Extremism Project, told the BBC he was “completely against” terrorism charges being considered. He said: 'I think giving these people an ideological justification for what they’ve done is profoundly dangerous. These are common criminals. These are people who’ve tried to incinerate human beings in hotels. They have looted vape shops, they’ve burned down libraries. There’s no ideological coherence behind any of that. 'These are common thugs, and they need to be treated as such, as they were back in 2011, and they need to be given exemplary sentences, because there’s a lot of debate to be had about the societal drivers for all of this, but for now the state has to get back in control.'”

“... Former prison governor Ian Acheson, an adviser to think tank the Counter Extremism Project, told the BBC he was "completely against" terrorism charges being considered. He said: "I think giving these people an ideological justification for what they've done is profoundly dangerous. These are common criminals. These are people who've tried to incinerate human beings in hotels. They have looted vape shops, they've burned down libraries. There's no ideological coherence behind any of that. "These are common thugs, and they need to be treated as such, as they were back in 2011, and they need to be given exemplary sentences, because there's a lot of debate to be had about the societal drivers for all of this, but for now the state has to get back in control.”

CEP Senior Advisor Ian Acheson writes: "The last comparable period of civil disorder in this country happened in 2011. Then as now, the courts acted with speed and severity to try to quell five days of rioting in multiple locations, which traumatised the nation, caused hundreds of millions in damage and injured more than three hundred officers. The head of the Crown Prosecution Service at the time was one Keir Starmer. Now, as prime minister, he seeks again to confront the horrific street violence with the same apparent energy and determination. But can a punitive response work to stop violence that has at times threatened to overwhelm the police? Times have changed, and our criminal justice system is in tatters."

"We spoke to former prison governor Ian Acheson. He’s now the Senior Advisor to the Counter Extremism Project. We began by asking him if the police and security services should’ve seen these riots coming."

CEP Senior Advisor Ian Acheson writes: "Merseyside police were very keen to rule out the Southport attack as ‘terrorism-related’. This was despite subsequent remarks from the Home Office that counter-terrorism police were still assisting the investigation. That muddled explanation will fall on deaf ears. Whether this turns out to be an act encompassed within the dry legalistic definition of terrorism, the dead are still dead."

"'It’s not going to be too long before we find the Milosevic in the country.'
People feel that the Government doesn’t speak for them anymore and this could push them to the far-right, says Ian Acheson, former Home Office director of community safety."

"Former prison governor Prof Ian Acheson, now a specialist at the Counter Extremism Project think tank, told The National the events show the need for stricter regulation of social media."