Founded 1980
Chair:        
Secretary: 
Treasurer: 

Graham Smith
Jan Thompson
Graham Mumby-Croft


 Issue No. 82 Spring 2020

Paul Laxton
Celebrating 40 Years of the RPGA Newsletter
Greetings and felicitations from your editor. More importantly, I hope you are all well and stay that way. The chances are that anything I write about the Coronavirus will be out of date by the time this hits your doormat, but we can be sure that the most draconian restrictions on civil liberties since World War Two will be in force. As members of a high-risk group, if this means that we either do not catch the virus or get a critical bed if we need one, it is probably something we are prepared to tolerate. Nevertheless, we should all be wary of the unfettered power that will be given to officialdom, some of whom will inevitably prove unfit to wield it.

We should probably consider ourselves luckier than colleagues still in harness. They face the possibility of infection on a daily basis, and the potential for a violent reaction from prisoners denied visits, as has occurred in Italy. I’m sure our thoughts are with them every day of what will be a very long haul.

Some of you will have noticed that The Retired Governors Newsletter celebrates its 40th birthday this year. The precise month is unknown to me, and I guess there may not be many people out there who can fill in that particular knowledge gap. I had hoped to publish some archive material in this year’s editions, rather as I did when I edited ‘The Key,’ but unfortunately for me, the PGA no longer has a comprehensive archive. I can only presume it disappeared in an office move, and sadly Paddy Scriven, who would surely have known the whereabouts of historic material, is no longer with us. However, I cling to the hope that out there are retired members who were the sons, daughters, and maybe even grandchildren of an older generation of retired members who have long departed for that great Governor’s office in the sky, who just may have old copies of the newsletter which have been gathering dust in a drawer for three decades and more. Please have a look, you never know.

If any member does find old newsletters, please send either to myself or Roger Outram. We will treat them as treasure trove and return them to you as soon as we have finished with them.

As ever this edition contains Bob Duncan’s much loved ‘Your Letters’ column as well as items from regular contributors.
Joining our roster of writers this month are Mike Newell, former President of the PGA, and Jenny Mooney, former Governor of HMP Holme House. Respectively they offer a fascinating insight into the operation of the prison system in two foreign jurisdictions, China and the USA.

Hopefully, by the time it comes to publish the Autumn edition, normality will have been resumed and we will all still be here to enjoy it.

PAUL LAXTON, EDITOR