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Highland MSP Edward Mountain slams the new Justice Secretary Keith Brown who refused to commit to a delivery date for the much delayed HMP Highland by saying 'read our manifesto'


By Scott Maclennan

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MSP Edward Mountain at Inverness Prison.
MSP Edward Mountain at Inverness Prison.

New Scottish Justice Secretary Keith Brown has refused to confirm whether the long-delayed HMP Highland will be delivered on time.

He was challenged by Highland MSP Edward Mountain on the issue in Holyrood on a motion titled “Justice: Recover, Renew, Transform.”

Mr Mountain has pressed the Scottish Government for years to make good on promises to deliver a replacement for HMP Inverness.

In his address, the Tory MSP quoted Scotland’s Chief Inspector of Prisons who called for the project to be expedited as the Victorian-era prison is “costly to run and no longer fit for purpose.”

The prison saga started more than a decade ago when it was recognised that a new facility was needed, it was then budgeted at £52 million. By 2016, there was still no sign of the prison being built though it was now likely to cost around £66 million.

This year the SNP promised to deliver a new jail by 2024 but the projected cost had more than doubled to £110 million from the original estimate ten years before.

Mr Mountain said: “So my question to you cabinet secretary is will we be third time lucky or a hat-trick of broken promises.

“This government cannot keep kicking the can down the road and make Highlanders wait for a modern prison, which we desperately need.

“This is a shovel-ready project. The site has been purchased and planning permission confirmed and lets not underestimate the many jobs this project will create.

“So, Cabinet Secretary, will you and can you step up to the plate and deliver on the promises that your predecessors have singularly failed to do? A simple ‘Yes’ will do it for me?”

Mr Brown said: “I am very pleased to answer a question which I wasn’t able to do from a previous Conservative member. The member will know if he has read our manifesto, the one that won the election if he wants to read that.”

Mr Mountain responded: “There you go, no yes or no, no prison guaranteed.”

Read more on the story here – New Inverness prison must be fast-tracked after 10 years of SNP 'broken promises' says Edward Mountain amid fears for further delays


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