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The government's U-turn on sentencing has got commentators talking about who should and shouldn't be in prison and why the government changed their mind.

that the problem isn't how long people are sentenced but that the wrong people are going to jail:

"But we really do know that 100,000 persistent offenders commit half of all crime and that most of them are at liberty at any given time. The authorities know exactly who most of these people are and the future of policing must surely lie in more forensic concentration on prolific offenders.
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"This is the way that we can have condign punishment for the criminal and reduce the numbers behind bars. Get those for whom prison works inside and those for whom it doesn't out."

a reversal of sentencing reforms. He says they are necessary and sentence length is the "tip of the iceberg":

"The difference between cutting sentences by a third and a half for those who plead guilty early on is a technocratic issue that would have had little impact on prison numbers. Rather than squabbling about a third or half of a sentence, we should admit that the real problem lies in sending too many people - and the wrong people - to prison in the first instance, and we should push for more courageous sentencing that would keep people out of jail altogether.
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"More than 60,000 enter the prison system each year on short-term sentences. Sent to prison for not paying the council tax for example, or for flouting the smoking ban, people are given their release forms along with their induction papers."

that the reversal has made it clear what David Cameron's views are:

"As so often, this affair comes down to one question: just what sort of Conservative is David Cameron? Is he a traditional Right-winger who believes in locking 'em up and throwing away the key? Or is he a tieless Notting Hill social activist with a bleeding heart? Does he follow Mr Clarke's way or Lord Howard's?
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"As on many other issues, Mr Cameron has often tried to have a little bit of both: any successful party leader has to learn how to ride two horses at once. But in the end, to govern is to choose, and Mr Cameron has made his choice."

The why David Cameron seemed to change from his days working under Michael Howard with the "prison works" slogan:

"So what has gone so horribly wrong? Sadly, it appears that Mr Cameron was so busy worrying about how to 'detoxify' the Tory brand on the NHS and international aid that he forgot about the need to keep locking up muggers and rapists.
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"Thus, we find ourselves in the ridiculous position of a Tory government being committed to increasing spending overseas while flinging open the prison doors at home."

that the Tories don't seem to have understood that being tough on crime and punishment is a vote winner. As if to prove his point, the Ken Clarke to be sacked and has the headline "It's time for Tubby bye bye". Meanwhile that, once again, the tabloids have decided policy:

"Call it flexibility; call it panic. This government is performing U-turns at an alarming speed. Sometimes the original policy was crass, such as selling off the nation's forests or abandoning school sports. Sometimes it was an unholy mess, such as the NHS reforms. Mr Cameron originally sought to position himself in the centre ground. Now a good policy, albeit badly presented, has been sacrificed to the baying mob."