Ban kettles in cells, say Scottish Conservatives
Conservative members of the Scottish Parliament have called for kettles to be banned in prisons, following eight attacks on officers in five Scottish prisons over the past 12 months.
The call was led by Shadow Justice Secretary Liam Kerr, who said: “Given the number of boiling water attacks on prison officers in the past year alone, it’s simply common sense that high-risk prisoners should not have access to kettles.
“There is also an urgent need for a review on whether other prisoners should have access to kettles, given the clear risk they post to prison staff and other inmates.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Prison Service said: “Whilst people in our care do have access to kettles, these are removed if considered a risk to the individual or others.”
Although the Scottish Conservatives obtained information about the number of boiling water attacks in Scottish jails via a Freedom of Information request, their call is said to have been prompted by an attack at HMP Belmarsh in London, rather than following any specific incident in Scotland.
More kneejerk legislation on the way! Calls to ban kettles after eight assaults in five establishments over the past year, appear disproportionate when set against the wider data. Scotland’s prisons currently hold around 8,350 people, with over 2,200 (26%) on remand. In that context, the kettle-related incidents represent a vanishingly small proportion of prison life. Removing kettles would punish the overwhelming majority who use them responsibly, while leaving untouched the real drivers of tension: overcrowding, staff shortages, and the rising remand population. Evidence suggests that addressing these systemic pressures, rather than banning basic amenities, is the more effective path to reducing violence.
Kettles should have been banned after the first attack, anyone asking why they cannot have a kettle should be directed to the person who assaulted the prison officer.
Given the number of pedestrian lives lost to motor vehicles, why isn’t Liam Kerr calling for a ban on those? Alcohol contributes to a huge amount of violence. Time for Prohibition? As ever, Tory politicians – just like their Labour colleagues – have no solutions to the problems their own policies create.