1990 Strangeways Prison riot newspaper also referenced in its own report an interview with former Lord Chief Justice Lord Woolf from earlier in the year where he described prisoners being kept in intolerable conditions–as bad as at the time of the riots. Woolf recommended prisons were kept out of politics. A riot involving several hundred prisoners that occurred at Birmingham Prison in December 2016 was described by prison affairs academic Alex Cavendish as "probably the most serious riot in a B category prison since Strangeways went up". The incident began after a set of keys was stolen from a prison officer while he was
1990 Strangeways Prison riot shone at the roof, and prison officers banged on their riot shields and shouted at the prisoners, including calling them "beasts". The rooftop protest was watched by a crowd of onlookers and supporters outside the prison. Various political groups also attended in support of the prisoners, including anarchist group Class War, the Revolutionary Communist Group, and the Prisoners' League Association. On 6 April Paul Taylor attempted to shout out the prisoners' demands to the crowd gathered below, but he was drowned out by police sirens. Taylor and other prisoners responded by unfurling a banner which read "We fight and stand