But we hope the Liberal Democrats ' success in teasing out the figures about the numbers of prisoners giving birth will nevertheless encourage a more enlightened discussion about cusodial sentencing , and that this discussion might start from the following points : that there is little point in incarcerating non-violent young offenders in overcrowded jails ; that the chances of rehabilitating such people in a few months is almost nil , and that putting so many women behind bars is a symptom of a wider failure . • Yasmin Alibhai-Brown : Could Britain elect a black premier ? • Andreas Whittam Smith : Are the rednecks losing power ? 6 Howard Jacobson : So God ' probably ' doesn 't exist .