Faith in criminal justice falls and First Minister misrepresents the past

12/06/2008

Commenting after she challenged Alex Salmond at First Minister’s Questions on the public’s failing confidence in Scotland’s criminal justice system, Annabel Goldie MSP, Scottish Conservative Leader, said:

“Public confidence in our criminal justice system in Scotland is haemorrhaging and the First Minister cannot intervene in every case, as he is reported to have done with one frightened mother today. Our criminal justice system exists to deter, punish and to protect.  It is failing on all 3 counts.

“His attacks on the Scottish Conservatives are beyond ridiculous – there was no need to build extra prison space when we were in Government because crime and offences fell in the five years before 1997. And, as usual, he forgets to mention that the last Conservative Government left a repeal of automatic early release on the statute books in 1997, only for the incoming Labour administration to ignore it. Since that time, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and yes, the SNP, have combined on no fewer than three occasions at Holyrood to block Conservative efforts to end automatic early release.

“People can seek to blame individuals in the criminal justice system but the bottom line is what we are seeing is the damaging consequence of the Scottish Nationalist Party’s relentless drive to empty our jails. We need to get back to our criminal justice system existing to deter, punish and protect.

"We need to get it out of the dock and get criminals back into the dock. The First Minister does himself no favours when he dredges up the past, especially when he dredges up the past to paint a misleading picture.”