Ken Clarke's "Chain gangs".....

[R1Geezer]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11470289
good idea? Any suggestions for jobs they could do?

[joggerjayne]

They could water my balcony plants.

[youngmafbog]

Mailbags ?

[youngmafbog]

Or clocks ?

[Hopkirk]

Scrubbing the kerbstones clean.

[joggerjayne]

Do they have to wear blue suits with arrows on them, and ankle manacles?

[joggerjayne]

(not that there's anything wrong with ankle manacles)

=0)

[jake-the-peg]

One of the problems here is that of competing with private sector companies.

if you were running a company that made things like mailbags or whatever you'd not be best pleased about the government competing against you using free labour.

This kind of limits the jobs that can be done.

[anotheoldgit]

Making alarm clocks for the dole scroungers, so they can practice getting up early, when they are forced to get a job.

[eyethenkyew]

I have a few suggestions, unfortunately unprintable. But the moral of this madcap suggestion by Mr Clarke is: get yourself a prison place where, instead of being punished for your crimes, you will instead be rewarded by being trained up, at your victim's expense, for a job when you get out.

[R1Geezer]

I doubt they'll be doing jobs that require much training!

[R1Geezer]

Most definately steve.

[anneasquith]

pick up dog poo, left by irresponsible dog owners

[123everton]

Sort out my waste for recycling, one bin, one collection, once a week.
Although to be fair I'd advocate this in place of other community punishments.

[askyourgran]

Go over to Delhi and get the Olympic stadium ready, three women crouched down washing the track (unfinished) this morning.

[rov1200]

I thought the best idea was to make the prisoners self sufficient (as far as possible). I believe they grow their own vegetables in some open prisons. They could learn to sew and produce their own working clothes. They could launder their own clothes.
They could operate their own distillery and after a hard days work could sit down with a pint. They could learn husbandry and have their own animals, cows, sheep, chickens, etc (open prisons only) for care and nourishment and milking. They already do shoe repairing. There must be many more!

[ludwig]

Jake, the article says..
// ..discussions have already begun with a large number of private companies about increasing the number of job opportunities in prisons. //

I read that as meaning that rather than competing with the private sector, they're just aiming to supply them with a large number of cheap contractors.