By Steve Bargeton, political editor

UNDER FIRE Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson yesterday tried to shift the blame for the blunder over slopping out on to a cabinet colleague.

She said she was “furious” that the Executive’s appeal over the slopping out compensation ruling had not been lodged in time.

The Executive will attempt today to get extra time to appeal Lord Bonomy’s ruling that slopping out in jails amounted to degrading treatment and his decision to award £2450 to a prisoner who claimed the practice breached his human rights.

If the Executive fail in their attempt it could open the floodgates to thousands of appeals from current and former prisoners which could cost the taxpayer millions of pounds of compensation.

Around 1200 prisoners are forced to slop out in five prisons across Scotland, including parts of Barlinnie, Polmont, Perth and Edinburgh as well as the whole of Peterhead.

Ms Jamieson, who is already under intense pressure over the Reliance accidental release of prisoners fiasco, said an investigation would be held in to why the appeal had not been lodged in time, but pointed the finger at her colleague Colin Boyd, the Lord Advocate.

“Something went wrong, it shouldn’t have happened and I think as people can probably tell by my tone I am less than pleased about it,” said Ms Jamieson.

“What we have to recognise is that Scottish ministers collectively took the decision to appeal.

“The error appears to have occurred in a particular part of the Scottish Executive where the legal services are located. That comes under the auspices of the Lord Advocate’s department.”

Insisting that she was not trying to pass the buck, she said, “Something went wrong here, we need to get to the bottom of that, but more importantly, as soon as this was discovered measures were taken to try and rectify the situation.

“It was very clear the ministers intended to appeal this and it was very clear that the decision was taken in perfectly adequate time for the appeal to be lodged.

“The investigation needs to find out what happened. We’ll know that soon.”

But last night opposition parties were not prepared to let Ms Jamieson wriggle off the hook.

SNP justice spokesman Nicola Sturgeon pointed out that it was Ms Jamieson, and not the Lord Advocate, who used a Parliamentary answer to announce the Executive’s decision to appeal.

“Cathy Jamieson’s job is hanging by a thread. Frankly, she should have resigned over the Reliance contract scandal, but with the Executive’s gross incompetence now exposed over the slopping out appeal, she cannot hang on,” she said.

“Now, in a stunning display of political cynicism, she is desperately trying to point the finger elsewhere to save her own skin. That won’t wash.

“She announced the Executive’s decision to appeal against the slopping out judgment; she is the democratically elected politician accountable to the public, only she can carry the can for this fiasco.”

Ms Sturgeon continued, “If she won’t do the decent thing and go of her own accord, then Jack McConnell should sack her.

“With each new fiasco, confidence in the justice system is further damaged.”

Scottish Tory justice spokesman Annabel Goldie said, “This takes incompetence to new heights.

“The floodgates are now well and truly open to thousands of potential claims for compensation that could cost us millions of pounds.

“On Saturday, I asked who Cathy Jamieson would blame this time? Now I know—anybody but herself.”

She continued, “So will she now give us the answers to some crucial questions about the extent of future claims she expects; how much has been spent losing this case and when an end to slopping out will now be completed.”