Reid blasted over new prison
http://www.champnews.com/html/newsstory.asp?id=5480
Home Secretary John Reid visited Maghull to inspect work on the new temporary prison
at Ashworth East and announced he had commissioned a 600-place prison further down
the road.
Dr Reid talked about the necessity for more prison spaces, promising 8,000 more by
2012 and said: "The process of delivering starts here in Maghull." And he added:
"While the new prison is being built I have ordered short-term prisons - like the one
I'll be seeing today (HMP Kennet)."
The Home Secretary claimed to have met with local residents: "and they were delighted
we are coming here. The only complaint I heard was that the prison was promised in
1998 and, until now, we had never delivered."
Cllr Tony Robertson thought the majority of the people of Maghull Lydiate and Melling
had lost their chance for their questions (about the prisons) to be answered.
"To say the prospect of a prison delighted residents beggars belief. They are not
delighted - no community would be," he said.
Cllr Debi Jones, prospective Conservative MP for Sefton Central, said: "I'm afraid
this has been a done deal for some time. The Government's directives on planning
regulations meant that the local Planning Committee could not refuse the application
to build the prison and then, in an attempt to buy off any local opposition, the Home
Office has to resort to a bribe of ?800,000 towards a new leisure centre.
"There should have been much more consultation with the local residents by the Home
Office and more attention given to the consequences for the local community, not
least the traffic. Instead, we have the rush to build this new prison."
Shadow Home Secretary, David Davis, added: "This is far too little, way too late.
This will do nothing to alleviate the acute and chronic prison overcrowding crisis
which means dangerous offenders are being released on to our streets now."
Cllr Robertson maintained that nobody at Sefton Council had been informed of the
visit.
"It was a most odd carry on," he told The Champion. "This visit was in my ward, yet
no cllr knew anything about it.
"Sefton Council not being told must have been quite deliberate - it couldn't happen
by accident. I think they (the Home Office) didn't want us asking awkward questions.
It has been a bizarre circus all along, with them giving out duff information."
The Champion can reveal that Dr Reid, along with MP George Howarth, met with members
of the Beechpark Initiative for 30 minutes on Thursday evening. Beechpark is an
estate formerly owned by Ashworth and being out on a limb from Maghull has suffered
its fair share of difficulties, particularly with anti-social behaviour.
The Home Secretary also confirmed that with our European partners we agreed an
arrangement that will enable us to transfer prisoners within the EU without their
consent. This will, for the first time, create an obligation on member states to
accept back their own nationals.
HMP Kennet will be a 350-bed category C male prison. It is expected to start taking
prisoners in early summer
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and other beneficiaries of the institutionalized slavery and genocide.
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