Barlinnie prison should have been decommissioned decades ago. We know it’s physically not fit for purpose. And a shiny new jail should be ready to replace it in 2028.
Our delivery of major building projects, after the disaster of the Scottish Parliament building and vital ferries, means a further delay should perhaps be expected.
Three years is a short time in the lifespan of this crumbling jail. But it’s a chasm in the life of any offender who might end up being held there.
We hear today further accounts of men being cooped up in cells due to the huge numbers of gangland rivals being held there. We hear of staff shortages caused by Scottish Government underfunding.
And we are reminded of the chronic overcrowding that Victorian age rulers would have believed to have been an affront to prisoners’ human rights.
On top of that, prisoners report that they have witnessed a huge number of incidents involving violence, threats and intimidation.
We must remember that such conditions can be catastrophic, given their tendency to fuel a repeat of the cycle in the lives of those exposed to isolation and hopelessness.
Most Scots will never see the inside of a prison. But for those who do, there are families around them who suffer.
No one benefits if prisons spit out men and women who have experienced no rehabilitation, no education and gained no life skills.
We cannot give up on Barlinnie or any of our jails.
Under controls
The Scottish Government’s housing Bill tries to balance the rights of tenants with the freedom to operate of landlords. A proposed system of rent controls in some areas is not perfect but it is better than the status quo.
Where the Bill must go further is protecting tenants from the bad practices of some landlords. A process currently has to be gone through if a landlord wants to evict a tenant.
But the redress for a tenant who has been wrongfully evicted is unsatisfactory and must be beefed up.
Labour’s plan to hit rogue landlords with a jail sentence of up to two years for illegal evictions is the correct approach.
Most landlords would never dream of deceiving a tenant out of their home and they have nothing to worry about.
The Labour plan targets the bad apples and the sanctions for these dodgy operators must be steeper.