By Professor John Robertson OBA
The Herald above today, typically insensitive, exploitative and ill informed.
In England, last week:
Similar in Scotland? Nope, despite our media rats sniffing everywhere.
The facts? Anyone for facts?
There are currently 8 348 prisoners in Scotland’s prisons.2
From Audit Scotland in December 2023:
SPS has advised that as at November 2023 the extended operating capacity that the prison estate can accommodate is 8,475.3
So, 127 places still available for a population only one eleventh of the population of England and Wales. They should have at least 1 400 but have ‘less than 100’, only a fourteenth!
Sources:
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0rw48nj282o
- https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-prison-population-justice-secretary-statement/#:~:text=However%2C%20with%20the%20population%20having,populations%20ever%20recorded%20in%20Scotland.
- https://audit.scot/uploads/docs/report/2023/s22_231212_scottish_prison_service.pdf (14)
In the Guardian July 13th 2024:
Rishi Sunak’s government released more than 10,000 prisoners up to 70 days early, figures reveal, as the new justice secretary prepares to announce further emergency measures to ease another overcrowding crisis in jails. Ministry of Justice figures show that 10,083 prisoners were allowed to walk free under the end of custody supervised licence (ECSL) scheme between October 2023 and June 2024 in England and Wales.
From BBC Scotland on 8 July, 2024:
The current early release scheme involves prisoners with 180 days or less to serve from a sentence of under four years.
Between 500 and 550 inmates will be freed in four phases. The first scheduled release was on 26 June, and this will continue weekly until 18 July.
With 11 times the population, all things being equal (which they never are), England and Wales might have been expected to release around 6 000 but have released, so far, more than 10 000.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
The Herald today, misinformation and propaganda, where’s their headquarters.
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Sorry John O/T but interesting
Scottish Secretary Ian Murray’s department is to receive £150m to spend north of the border in a controversial shake-up.
On TV this morning he said this is not true just a figure a reporter said but the headline was in the Record ? who is telling lies.
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“who is telling lies”
Well either way it is bad as both (Murray & Daily Record) are representing Labour are they not ?
More infighting in the Labour party then.
So what is the actual story with this then ?
Did he, Murray, state that UK government funding will go directly to the Scottish government and he will not receive , as the Scottish SOS, any monies for him to allocate directly to local councils in Scotland.
Q’s Q’s Q’s but what we really need are answers.
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BTW, just checked, and as yet this is still not a story, via an article , on the BBC website on their Scottish Politics page.
So the current Scottish SOS accuses a Pro UK and Labour friendly newspaper of fabricating a political story which he did, as an accusation, on a BBC Scotland political programme today, yet they the BBC, do not regard it , as a political story, significant enough to add ,as a major headline and article, onto their website on their Scottish (in location only) pages ?
Actually what am I saying that is exactly the type of behaviour we witness as far as the BBC here and any Pro UK politician and Pro UK newspaper are concerned.
So what is the hold up , via the BBC website, with this as a significant political story.
Well I suspect that they , the BBC, are seeing how they can try to spin this story so that damage limitation is then assured for both Ian Murray and the Pro UK newspaper, as in The Daily Record, so that in the future neither will be doubted on their output in Scotland by the public.
Fat chance of that as that ship sailed a long time ago !
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Rebecca McCurdy’s “Exclusive” is an object lesson on misdirection in journalism, her opening paragraph ” Victims of serious crime feel “forgotten” after John Swinney admitted the early release of almost 500 prisoners had failed to tackle overcrowding as planned, a charity has warned “
Scotland’s prison service has an exemplary record on prisoner assessment – Where called upon to make space, they fully assess the individual cases and behaviour before recommending release.
Yet consider Kate Wallace’s criticisms in context – ” “We are disappointed by sadly not surprised, as we argued vehemently this this would be the outcome ” – The outcome, as it appears, is that the space vacated was taken up by prisoners she had no way of predicting, yet when you read further into the piece you find “the outcome” to be due to “It has also been revealed that just 2% of victims were notified about the release of a prisoner in this case, causing what Ms Wallace described as “unnecessary trauma”. “
This is then followed up with “Scottish Labour justice spokeswoman Pauline McNeill said: “The SNP government’s failure to properly notify victims about the early release of prisoners is nothing short of scandalous ” and is where this piece originates – From the “read my lips, no austerity” party, anxious to protect their Anas from Labour’s decimation (again) at the next HR elections.
Sorry hen, but the SNP mechanism you are so quick to criticise for failing, NO Labour MSP proposed in their many years in government both uk-wide and in Scotland….
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“Aye, but..but…but..”
Labour’s reBUTtal unit.
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“Scottish Labour justice spokeswoman Pauline McNeill said: “The SNP government’s failure to properly notify victims about the early release of prisoners is nothing short of scandalous ”.
Yes only Labour , would at this moment, declare another political party, who also are another government within the UK , as behaving in a “scandalous” way.
Such an attack by a Labour MSP during a time when her own party, as the current UK government , are those who are mired in various “scandalous” situations themselves.
#LabourFreebies and also #LabourAcceptingDonations
Not forgetting of course the most “scandalous” behaviour from them being their false advertising in their political campaign in the recent GE where they promoted that they would implement “Change” when elected they then, when elected, delivered NO “Change” from the previous Tory UK government.
Obviously the Labour branch in Scotland are on deflection manoeuvres to try and protect their UK party from the mounting questionable policy decisions tey have made since in power .
Also the morally wrong decision by their leader (PM) and Labour ministers to ‘live the high life paid for by wealthy donor(s)’ which one then wonders what exactly is the return expected by that wealthy donor(s) for their generosity ?
Meanwhile in the real world the vulnerable within the UK must, just like when the Tories were in power , ‘Live within their means and so for many they must then do without’.
UK a supposed wealthy country apparently but with either Labour or the Tories in charge as the UK government the vulnerable and needy citizens must be constantly means tested to get a wee bit extra to pay what is now extortionate prices for food and energy within the UK (#NotTheSNP’sFault).
Apparently though Scotland going it alone as in being outwith the UK could not do any better as an independent country – according to those who support Scotland staying within the UK .
Better than what ?
The current Hell we have endured aka suffered both before and post 2014 .
Where for many there has been constant deprivation and neglect from the (UK controlled) state for the most vulnerable in society within the UK. (actually others who are less vulnerable have also suffered with the never ending cost of living crisis within the UK).
Also since Brexit there has been constant turmoil and uncertainty within the UK as no one knows how to make Brexit work for their UK.
(But still Pauline’s UK Labour party want to try and “make it work” apparently, though for whom I do not know, but certainly not for Scotland that’s for sure, as we did not even vote for it to happen as a flawed , misconceived and negative event)
Maybe Pauline, Labour MSP , should look to her own party if she really wants to witness “Scandalous” behaviour instead of playing the ‘Blame game’ and scapegoating others, like say the SNP.
Honestly pig sick of Labour ‘Playing politics’ and it is way way past the time when they, as a party, were really needing to be called out for what and who they really are and also what they represent and also do not represent (with “Change” being one thing they never represent as a political party).
As to what others think of them , well others can fill in the blanks or take their pick on any negative connotations linked to them, Labour, as a political party.
I know what I think of them. (and that, as an opinion, will never ever “Change”).
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The Herald article is an example of the usual media perfidy. They want to prove that early release of prisoners in Scotland is bad, per se. So, they select data and present it out of context, accompanied by a vox pop from a single person, and, hey presto! they have their ‘story’ and ergo early release in Scotland is ‘bad’. They then quote the perpetually soor-faced and negative, Pauline McNeill MSP. She used to represent my constituency until the electorate voted for someone else, but, being part of the ‘Scottish’ Labour clique she returned as a list MSP.
Alasdair Macdonald
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I’m struggling getting to grips with the gripe. As I understand it the early release program is geared towards those who were convicted of non violent crime and behaved themselves while in prison. It begs the question why ‘ victims ‘ require to be informed if an individual has served the majority of their sentence and maybe at most has only a few weeks left to serve. If the prisoner had served the full term of their sentence would the PS be required to inform the victim/s,? Does the prison service inform victims of violent crime if prisoners are released after serving their sense full term.
Golfnut
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O/T We know how the British Labour Party in Scotland acts in opposition but here is an insight into how the British Labour Party in Wales acts in Government.
The BBC News website’s Wales section has this headline: ‘More schools face unpalatable cuts, warns union’.
It reports that: ‘Schools are laying off staff, cutting behaviour support and delaying building repairs due to a crisis in school budgets, a union has warned.’ (my emphasis)
‘A National Association of Headteachers Cymru survey found that every member who responded said they did not have enough funding to fully meet the needs of pupils.’
And the Labour government’s response? ‘The Welsh government said it was protecting school funding as much as possible, but it said councils, not itself, set their budgets.’
We’re told: ‘A survey of 416 National Association of Headteachers members in Wales found that more than half were expecting a budget deficit in this academic year – a significant increase on last year’s response.’
Again from the Welsh Government: “The amount of funding set aside for school budgets, including funding for school staff, is for local authorities to determine, we do not fund schools directly,” a spokesperson said.’
Can you imagine the British Labour Party leadership in Scotland’s reaction in Holyrood to such a report from a teachers’ union in Scotland? Can you imagine Labour’s reaction to the Scottish Government shifting the blame for under-funding on to local authorities?
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O/T
Long comment .
On 18 September Ian Dunt, political commentator and very much Labour supporter , wrote a (Opinion) piece for INews online entitled :
“Scottish independence efforts have proved tragic, divisive and pointless”
Mainly concluded by him because of “A recent YouGov poll suggests support for independence is unchanged since the referendum”.
“A YouGov poll” ! (Say no more).
This piece that he has written BTW is on the back of a UK Labour Party win in the recent GE so he, Ian Dunt, has a job to do as one of those who are very much one of the Labour friendly political commentators. (as in he supports Labour, not Corbyn’s Labour party, but Starmer’s Labour party).
So in respect to Scotland , his job as part of the Labour client media, is to try and stop independence from gaining more support and indeed stop it ever happening and also to try and stop parties who support independence from gaining more support, like say the SNP, and instead trying to get a Labour Scottish government elected in 2026.
So he continues by stating this:
“In 10 years Scottish independence has achieved precisely nothing. Today marks a decade since the referendum. In that time we’ve seen anger, vitriol, hope, despair and various degrees of resignation. What was it all for? Nothing. What did it accomplish? Nothing. It’s all been a total waste of time“.
“It’s all been a total waste of time” ?
Well some of us in Scotland would argue that by staying in the UK because of those who voted NO in 2014, then that for Scotland , has now proven to have “all been a total waste of time“.
Time wasted when we , Scotland, could have now been a new member state of the EU , within those 10 years, instead of being dragged out of it in 2016 , all because we were still a part of the UK.
We , Scotland, if we were independent, could also have gained financially, as in profited as an independent country, in that 10 years for our own government’s Scottish Treasury from revenue via Scottish Oil ,which as a resource did not run out, as the NO side told us that it would in their 2014 BT campaign.
Then also within that 10 years we would have also been prepared for the future with our renewable energy potential and capacity where we could have easily transitioned from fossil fuels to a more green energy, perhaps via the formation of a Scottish Green Energy company.
Also we would have not had to suffer 10 years of uncertainty and turmoil under the Tory UK government led by people like Boris Johnson and Liz Truss when we, Scotland, via a majority did not vote for them as either our PM’s or our government.
Then there was also, under the Tory UK government, the many bad policies and the resulting inflation which then meant we in Scotland also had to suffer , within that 10 years, high food prices, high energy prices and higher mortgages indeed all of things we were told would only happen with a YES vote result in 2014.
Then of course there was also the many Tory scandals and corrupt practices which for many of them, Tories, has still not resulted in any legal punishment.
In fact Labour , for years, were unable to convince people in England that they were the best option as a UK government so they, as voters, elected more Tory MP’s in constituencies within England than Labour ones in GE’s.
That is until Keir Starmer became their leader and he decided to emulate the Tories and then make the Labour party, in what can only be described, as them now being nothing more than pound shop Tories.
He , Ian Dunt, then goes on to twist the truth (Lie) about what really happened because of the independence referendum.
Which I recall was a progressive, peaceful, positive movement and one where more people became politically engaged, motivated and very very much more enthusiastic and interested about politics and also about their own country Scotland.
Which was not anything like Ian Dunt’s false and partisan fake description of what it, in his opinion, as a movement and event supposedly then instigated throughout his UK. (England that is ).
His, an Dunt’s take was this:
“We didn’t realise it at the time, but the 2014 Referendum was the opening act in what would become a decade of freewheeling identity politics in Britain. What was immediately noticeable was the degree of vitriol and bitterness which met any contribution which did not agree with the nationalists”.
“In the years to come, we would come to accept this as the default tone for any number of issues – Brexit, the trans debate, even Low Traffic Neighbourhoods. But this was the first moment many of us had encountered it. The degree of abuse as extraordinary. There wasn’t even a glimmer of people trying to have a conversation: just hatred, venom, partisanship. “.
So where do you start with the above rubbish written by Ian Dunt.
Where he projects all negativity , via his biased and partisan opinion , upon Scottish nationalism and the 2014 Independence Referendum and where no blame or negativity is placed upon those who were a part of the ‘NO’ side . (who he must see as victims of Scottish nationalism).
Where he also tries to promote the non fact that the 2014 referendum was representative of and responsible for all of those aggressive scenes we witnessed just before and after Brexit from those uber Brexiteers where many of them were also English Nationalists.
In other words all of that “abuse” , “hatred and venom” and “vitriol and bitterness” that we witnessed with Brexit via both English and British Nationalists ,but according to Ian Dunt was only, as an actuality, all because of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, which according to him was “the opening act in what would become a decade of freewheeling identity politics in Britain”.
Strangely then that he, Dunt, fails to recognise and acknowledge Labour’s “identity politics” that promotes British nationalism badly disguised as British patriotism.
(As in he conveniently ignores it in this piece so he then must accept Labour’s ‘British Nationalism aka British patriotism’ as being a positive , valid and more credible movement especially because (or only because) it is what British Labour promotes) .
He, Dunt, then goes onto misrepresent what prompted the protest outside the BBC in Glasgow where he completely ignores what Nick Robinson said but instead he, Dunt, presents it as supposedly being “one of the first times we’d seen anger targeted at journalists. And it was, in its way, perfectly predictable. In binary politics your side is entirely good and the other side is entirely bad, so scrutiny is merely evidence of bias”.
This is a familiar clueless perspective from a biased representative of the UK media, who knows nowt about Scotland and our politics, but who writes and speaks about it as if he is one who is fully clued up on both. (as they, or rather in this instance he, know best apparently).
As when we read this clueless and extremely biased piece from Ian Dunt we see what is now regarded as being a deliberate and familiar presentation .
That is where a pro UK individual chooses to ignore, as in omit , certain pertinent facts on what instigated, as in prompted, an action.
As in this protest outside the BBC in Glasgow was prompted by Nick Robinson’s very much edited piece to camera in 2014 on the BBC news , in relation to Alex Salmond , where Robinson said “He (Salmond) said nothing” to a Q Robinson asked him, that was a lie as Salmond’s answer was edited out by Nick Robinson and the BBC.
How many more nonsense and fake ‘opinion pieces’ must we read from the client media of pro UK parties that present fake news to us all.
Where their versions of facts is delivered in a such a way that suits that which they believe in (support) and also that which they oppose.
Where various pieces they write both promotes and tries to increase support for their side who they present as the ‘Good side’ , while always trying to diminish support for the opposing side, in this case Scottish independence, whose supporters are promoted by them as always being the ‘Baddies’.
We need less opinions pieces disguised as a journalist’s contribution (from the likes of Ian Dunt) and more honest and factual pieces written by real journalists who are not compromised by an allegiance to both the UK as a state and also to those political parties supportive of it.
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