Table 2 Disappearing chain of accountability

2a) Challenging the legitimacy of austerity

[T] he economy's picking up now, not just in Europe but internationally, so why continue with austerity? It is fundamentally about the realignment of state provisions. (Participant 12, Advisor to a European intergovernmental human rights organisation)

2b) Framing austerity as a matter of highpolitik

[These measures] are framed as unavoidable … . If you present something as just a technical issue and not a political issue, there is no space for public engagement. … [A] usterity was presented in such a way. (Participant 19, Former president of a European anti-torture committee)

2c) The danger of prison privatisation

[H] ealthcare is a public good. Once you put it into a setting where it becomes dependent on a resource, you instantly create a problem where you might have unequal access to that resource. It changes the nature of the relationship between the professional and patient in ways that many professionals don’t want to happen. … [I]t's dangerous on a number of fronts. (Participant 18, Advisor to a European administration organisation)

2d) Lack of a rehabilitation culture in private prisons

The rehabilitation rates of inmates are lower in private prisons [as measured in recidivism rates]. The [quality] of services and working conditions in English prisons was worse in private prisons than in public prisons. (Participant 8, Policy lead of a European public sector trade union organisation)

2e) The state’s duty of care towards prisoners’ health

[I] t was the state that took a person’s liberty, so it is the state’s full responsibility, direct responsibility, to care for prisoners in a direct way and not to outsource it. (Participant 23, Advisor to a European intergovernmental human rights organisation)

2f) Prison privatisation increases long-term transaction costs for the government

At the end of the day, [a private prison is] either trying to make some kind of profit, and even if they’re not for profit, they’re looking to sustain their contract. (Participant 20, Public health specialist at an international health organisation)