The public accounts committee is quite right to be critical of the Ministry of Justice’s “catastrophic” decision to carry on leasing a prison site that was harmful to the health of prisoners and staff who look after them (‘Catastrophic’ MoJ leasing of jail with toxic gas set to cost more than £100m, 7 January).
However, it is both unsurprising and disappointing that they didn’t go on to be critical of the Duchy of Cornwall for being happy to keep on taking rent money from the public purse, for the private income of an already wealthy man. And it’s not only the prison that is closed – the national park visitor centre half a mile from the prison gates closed its doors to the public two months ago as a result of financial pressures facing Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA).
