The recent escape of Daniel Khalife is the outcome of the government’s underinvestment in prison security and staffing, and serves as a wake-up call to government ministers.
Earlier this summer Community highlighted the ongoing risks faced by prison staff as a consequence of understaffing, calling on the Government to address a rising tide of assaults on justice workers as a focal point of our ‘Keep Us Safe’ campaign.
Adrian Axtell, National Officer for Community Union, said:
“Community Union has consistently warned the Ministry of Justice about the potential risks of continuing to allow those running our prisons to be understaffed, overworked, and abused day in and day out.
“The fact of the matter is the Government can’t continue to run our prisons without proper investment in staffing levels and protection of prison staff. This escape is merely the inevitable outcome of that fact.
“Prisons should be about protecting the public and, where possible, rehabilitating prisoners. Prison staff can not do that under current conditions, and I deeply hope that this escape acts as a wake-up call for the Government.”
You can read more on our Keep Us Safe campaign here: https://community-tu.org/campaigns/sector-campaigns/keep-us-safe/
Community is the union for justice and custodial sector workers, representing thousands of members whose work is vital to our justice system and to public safety. Our members work for a range of organisations in the sector. We represent workers at private prisons, secure immigration centres, young offender institutions, courts, in prisoner escorting and much more. We are a modern trade union, campaigning for a better working world.
© Community Trade Union 2026
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