The UK should be much tougher on those who break the law, but it doesn't necessarily need to be done via prison.

Obviously, some crimes should warrant a custodial sentence, but there are other lesser crimes that could be dealt with in other ways. For example, if you commit a lesser crime, regardless of what it is, you could be punished in other ways such as having your driving licence suspended (even if your offence is not driving related).

There are plenty of privileges we enjoy in a free society, and these should be used as leverage to compel people to behave - it's cheaper than prison and has more impact in terms of punishment than a suspended sentence. If people lose their job as a result of a driving ban, so fucking be it! And if they re-offend because they now have no money, jail them. Decisions have consequences - it's time people learned that.