Scotland’s first minister has been accused of constructing a “luxury resort” that includes “an orchard of fruit trees” as a substitute of a high-security jail to “lock up rapists and murderers”.
Scottish Tory chief Russell Findlay criticised John Swinney over the hovering value of HMP Glasgow, which can finally change the infamous HMP Barlinnie.
It was revealed this week that the projected value of the event had greater than doubled from its 2019 estimate of £400m to £998.4m.
The brand new estimate is almost 10 instances the unique 2014 forecast of £100m, which was cited by an auditor to a Holyrood committee in 2023.
The opening of the jail, which was initially scheduled for 2025 earlier than being pushed again a 12 months, has additionally been additional delayed till 2028.
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Scottish Tory chief Russell Findlay branded the jail plans ‘nonsense’. Pic: SPS/Holmes Miller
At First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, Mr Findlay stated taxpayers have been “paying the price for this SNP incompetence” as he accused the Scottish authorities of “squandering more on a five-star prison” than on the nation’s flagship Queen Elizabeth College Hospital.
The MSP for West Scotland stated: “Instead of building a high-security prison to lock up rapists and murderers, John Swinney thinks he’s building either a luxury resort or a nature reserve.
“The justice secretary says it will likely be ‘based mostly round small communities dwelling collectively and supporting one another’.
“There shall be an orchard of fruit bushes. There shall be lovely landscaped gardens, planting beds, polytunnels, amphitheatre-like steps.
“I’m not making this up – there will be wee boxes for owls and bats to live in and special bricks for the birds.
“And SNP count on hardworking Scottish taxpayers to pay for his or her nonsense.
“Surely, we need some common sense by building a prison at minimum cost to taxpayers, not maximum benefit to prisoners.”
Mr Swinney branded the tone of Mr Findlay’s query “absolutely reprehensible and despicable”, as he accused his political opponent of “obnoxious rhetoric” to curry favour with Conservative voters amid the rising reputation of rival celebration Reform UK.
The primary minister added: “If he wants to have a dividing line in politics on this type of stuff, then I’ll happily be on the other side of the argument from Russell Findlay and all of the cohorts that he’s courting in his question today.”
HMP Glasgow is ready to be constructed within the metropolis’s Provanmill district and can be capable to maintain 1,344 prisoners – 357 greater than 143-year-old HMP Barlinnie.
The general value is alleged to be according to comparable initiatives elsewhere within the UK, with Justice Secretary Angela Constance beforehand citing the consequences of inflation attributable to Brexit and the COVID pandemic.
Mr Swinney additionally stated the undertaking was nearly double the scale of the unique proposal.
It comes amid overcrowding considerations throughout the nation’s jail property.
In line with the most recent Scottish Jail Service information, the nation’s jail inhabitants was 8,260 on 31 January – above its goal working capability of 8,007.
A variety of measures have been taken to ease the stress, together with the early launch of prisoners – which can proceed this month.
Mr Findlay stated Police Scotland officers and sufferer help teams had warned that the early launch scheme would “result in more crime in Scotland’s streets”.
Mr Swinney replied: “All of us can see what Mr Findlay is up to today.”
He added: “He is absolutely terrified of his party being consumed by Reform, as all the polls suggest, and he’s playing into their hands with every bit of obnoxious rhetoric that he comes out with today.”
