Lock up more burglars says David Davis
Prison has been our punishment of choice for centuries. But is it still an effective way of putting criminals back on the straight and narrow?
The Justice Secretary Ken Clarke told the Tory conference this week that prison should be reserved for the most violent and dangerous offenders, with tougher community sentences handed down for lesser offences.
But the man who used to be in charge of the Conservatives' law and order policy believes he has got it wrong.
David Davis - the former Shadow Home Secretary - has dismissed the notion that just because our jails are full, we should put fewer criminals behind bars.
He tells this week's Politics Show in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire that extra prison capacity could be created by sending home 11,000 foreign prisoners who are currently serving sentences in British jails.
The MP for Haltemprice and Howden believes there is a role for community sentences, but only in a minority of cases. He says that when it comes to crimes like burglary: "we don't send enough of them to jail."
Critics argue that prison remains an expensive option in an age of austerity.
But politicians from all sides know that reducing jail sentences is a policy that is often judged harshly in the court of public opinion.
I'm Tim Iredale, the BBC's Political Editor in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and presenter of the regional Politics Show. This is strictly a "no-spin" zone where the political viewpoint is more Humber Bridge than Westminster Bridge. Your comments and observations are more than welcome. 
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