Prison

With 129 members in the Scottish Parliament it is possible to know most and easy to ‘bump into’ Ministers to whisper messages in their ear.

In the last few weeks I have had four conversations with Cathy Jamieson, the new Justice Minister, about Peterhead Prison. That in addition to a formal meeting which included her officials.

The Minister is a vegan – a vegetarian that does not eat any foods derived from animals – and I have made her an offer. The White Horse Hotel in Strichen is close by Peterhead and has a growing recognition as a centre of vegetarian excellence. When she visits Peterhead Prison, I will buy her dinner at the White Horse.

Hopefully that will tip the balance in favour of a visit to our prison sooner rather than later. Because she says she shares my disappointment at the lack of progress in addressing issues at Peterhead after Parliament said it should stay open.

With the new Chief Inspector of Prisons report suggesting that conditions are worsening, it would not require rampant paranoia to believe that the Scottish Prison Service senior management is deliberately running things down to justify their previous recommendation for closure.

Doubling up in cells just confirms what we have said for some time. There are more sex offenders across Scotland who should be housed in a specialist unit.

And the best way of achieving that? A new build prison for 500, constructed alongside the existing buildings, and at Peterhead.

The issue of allowing prisoners access to toilets at night gains added importance when cell-sharing is in operation. Only the rampant fear of innovation in the SPS seems to be holding back the proposals from prison officers that could solve this problem.

But most worrying of all, is the failure to adequately support the programs work at Peterhead. Management appear to be dragging their heels in recruiting the additional specialists that are necessary to allow the very work upon which the prison’s reputation is founded to continue.

But it is back up the news agenda. If conditions in the prison have not changed I can nonetheless be confident that our community’s determination to keep our prison also remains undiminished.

Europe

My party’s first debate in the new Parliament was on Europe. One might think that strange given that the Scottish Parliament’s ability to influence things in the EU is so slight. But then that is not the point.

The draft constitution catapults the “exclusive competency” that the EU claims through the Common Fisheries Policy over Scottish fishing waters into a virtually permanent institution.

So we have been testing the Scottish government’s, the Scottish Executive’s, resolve to resist this. And it does not seem encouraging.

The First Minister, Jack McConnell, had previously claimed that the UK government had written to the EU on this issue. Of this letter there seems no sign. Certainly the debate showed no sign of a response from government ministers.

As there is a broad consensus among Scottish fishing interests that the Common Fisheries Policy is bad for Scottish fishing one might think that unity against proposals that would may that policy permanent would be possible. But no. Some difference about tactics, some disagreement about motives, continue to prevent all parties from sitting down at one table.

We will just need to keep trying.

If we cannot unite, we weaken the effectiveness of our opposition.

Land

They have stopped making it – land that is. So when communities are gifted land for their permanent benefit, communities quite properly place a very high value on that land.

So the right old stushie about the possible sale of Canal Park in Banff which is now reaching the airwaves is perfectly understandable. The land is Banff’s and Banff no longer has its own Town Council to directly protect its interests.

Aberdeenshire Council, who have to make the decisions, can seem far away. So it is reasonable that the people of Banff are showing that they are not going to let decisions which may be made there become disconnected from the interests of Banff.

The difficulty at present is that Banff folk have a fair view of what they might lose – Canal Park and the associated facilities. But we have little clarity on what we might gain.

I hope that we will shortly see what we can get if we sell. It could just the opportunity to get the boost for Banff that so many say our town needs. Or maybe not.

But the interests of the people of Banff must be decisive and not based solely on public meetings where only the outspoken and confident are heard.

The process used by the Liberal-Independent Council on this issue can set a model for openness and accountability. Or confirm that they are distant and out of touch.