Monday, January 13, 2014

SNP Government plan to scrap prison visiting committees and create a Prison monitors plan, why are the SNP removing safety blocks and routes to justice for prisoners, Scotland needs a strong Justice Minister; Kenny MacAskill is like a dog that shits where he sleeps

















Dear All

The Scottish National Party likes to crow that it stands for independence, it does, independence for the wealthy.

Independence anywhere else is not okay according to their control freak dogma.

Justice in Scotland under the SNP is a sham, the lurch to the far right by the SNP Government is continually ignored by the MSM who couldn’t have failed to have noticed it.

Kenny MacAskill’s tenure as Justice Minister is a sick joke, his arse should have been booted out years ago, he is Salmond’s pal and that is the way the SNP runs, little dynasties with Salmond as the puppet master.

The SNP plan to replace prison visiting committees!

The idea is a bad idea, but with the SNP deaf, blind and stupid, they will probably stumble on and do it anyway.

In will come two types of prison monitors, one paid and the other not paid.

Prison visiting committees have free access to prisons to monitor conditions and hear complaints from inmates.

This is a safety value but like many things, protection seems to be a low SNP priority.

In Holyrood, there should be a Justice 3 Committee which is tasked with reviewing all current law and where required any Act to see if it is still fit for purpose.

Bad law should always be removed from the books to tidy things up when needed, it makes sense.

Last year saw the SNP do a draft order to abolish the committees and create new roles.

Under the proposals, paid prison monitors will be supported in their work by the lay monitors.

McJobs for McSNP cronies?

Justice Committee convener Christine Grahame said:

“We’re not convinced that two levels of monitoring are needed and if [they are] paid and lay monitors have different roles, such as in dealing with prisoners’ concerns, it could cause real confusion among prisoners.”

So, if the paid monitors cannot hear complaints, what will they do with their time?

Be used as a blocking agent?

MSPs said they had “heard evidence of significant opposition to the creation of paid monitors”, who would have a managerial role over the volunteer monitors.

MSPs say this change will ensure that prison monitoring in Scotland meets the standards required by the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture (OPCAT).

By having paid monitors, how does that stop torture?

Their report highlights that “The committee believes that the operational independence of prison monitors is essential and this may be perceived to be compromised if HMIPS instructs and also pays them.”

So, your judge is also your advocate?

How does that square up with fairness and confidentially?

I think it doesn’t.

One of the hall marks of a fascist government is the systematic removal of the safety blocks which hold them accountable to the public.

This SNP Government isn’t on the road to independence, rather it is on the road to fascism and so few SNP MSPs speak out against anything coming from the leaders, this isn’t being a team player but a highly paid sycophant.

When Salmond loses the independence referendum, he should in theory go as the loser, but with such low talent in the ranks of the SNP MSPs, he will probably stay on post defeat.

One thing for certain, the SNP leadership don’t believe fairness, equality and social justice, the dross behind Salmond are sheep, mindless sheep scared to speak out.

The technical term is shitbags!

Fascism won’t go down well with the Scottish public, but Alex Salmond and unpopular Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon already know that, they see the polling of their failed experiment; it’s all downhill from here.

Is there a lesson to be learned here?

Yes!

Don't put a dick in charge of a justice system.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

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