While the world debates AI safety in Delhi and Britain braces for more snow, a quieter emergency is unfolding behind prison walls. The people meant to keep order are losing control.

Assaults where the suspected perpetrator was a prisoner — meaning attacks on staff or fellow inmates — jumped to 73 incidents in 2023, more than doubling from 35 the previous year. That's a 108.6% surge in twelve months. (Source: Ministry of Justice, Safety in Custody -- safety-in-custody-assaults-dec-23 -- 3_2_Assaults_by_role)

This isn't just another grim prison statistic. It marks a fundamental shift in who's dangerous to whom inside our jails. For decades, the assumption was simple: prison officers held authority, inmates complied or faced consequences. The data suggests that dynamic is breaking down.

The numbers reveal something prison reformers have warned about for years — overcrowded, understaffed facilities create violence. When you pack more people into spaces designed for fewer, when you cut staff numbers while populations grow, when rehabilitation programmes disappear, aggression becomes the currency of survival.

Every one of those 73 assaults represents a moment when the system failed. A prison officer attacked while doing their job. An inmate assaulted by someone they're locked up with. A rehabilitation opportunity lost to violence. A workplace that's become more dangerous than the streets many prisoners came from.

The doubling isn't an accident or an anomaly. It's the predictable result of policy choices made over years. Prisons that should be preparing people for release are instead teaching them that violence works. Staff who should be helping inmates change are instead ducking attacks.

This surge comes as the government struggles with prison capacity, early releases, and a justice system creaking under pressure. While politicians debate sentencing reform and building new facilities, the people inside existing prisons — both staff and inmates — are paying the price in blood.

The contrast is stark. Britain can coordinate international AI safety summits and issue precise weather warnings, but we can't keep our prison staff safe from the people they're meant to supervise. That's not a resource problem. It's a priority problem.

Behind every percentage increase is a person who went to work and got hurt. Behind every assault is a system that's stopped working for anyone inside it.