By Steve Bargeton, political editor

A FURIOUS minister yesterday accused opposition MSPs of “playing politics” with prisons after they rejected plans to extend the time convicts can spend in the community with electronic tags.

The Scottish Government had wanted to increase the amount of time that prisoners can spend on home detention curfew (HDC) from four-and-a-half months to six months.

But Labour and Tory MSPs on the Holyrood justice committee yesterday joined forces to vote down the measure.

They wanted a so-called “sunset clause” which would have given parliament a chance to reconsider the issue once a new prison at Addiewell, West Lothian, was completed.

But Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill rejected this and instead suggested a review of the home curfew system.

But with MSPs on the committee tied at 4-4, Tory convener Bill Aitken used his casting vote to throw out the Government’s plans, a move condemned by Mr MacAskill as “appalling.”

“I think Labour and the Tories are playing politics with our prisons,” he said.

“We have significant problems there because of overcrowding. This is a situation that we as a government inherited.

“We as a government are taking action to build three new prisons but we have a short-term problem.

“Rather than work with the government to ensure that our prison service is given some respite. They’re playing petty politics.”

There are 330 prisoners on HDC which involves prisoners on sentences of between three months and four years.

Had MSPs approved of the Government’s plans to extend the tagging period, that figure would have risen by between 50 and 120.

Mr Aitken said later that the measure would have seen the release of “even more criminals, even earlier.”

He added, “This refusal to face up to the simple truth that Scotland needs more prisons—which we budgeted for at the last election—is a disgrace.

“The SNP has all but admitted that they put the comfort of prisoners ahead of public safety.

“We might have given them the benefit of the doubt if they had considered a short-term sunset clause to this emergency legislation but they wouldn’t—concrete proof that the SNP simply wants to empty our jails, nothing more.”

Later Labour’s public safety spokesman MSP Paul Martin said, “The SNP’s policy of dealing with prisoners in our communities is all over the place.

“Kenny MacAskill’s already scrapped Labour’s community payback scheme without announcing a replacement scheme and he is seriously considering ending six- month sentences.

“Extending HDCs is a step too far when we’ve not seen the detail of the SNP’s sentencing policy.

“We need to know who these will be made available to, how robust the risk assessments will be and how early in their sentence prisoners will qualify for an HDC.”

The tagging extension will now come before a full sitting of Parliament next Thursday.

A spokesman for the First Minister said last night that ministers are confident that it will go through, adding that Mr MacAskill’s commitment to a full review “goes beyond” calls for a sunset clause.

“That was a strong commitment and I’m sure that will be part of what goes back to Parliament,” he said.