Mr Howarth himself appearing before the committee said it was entirely appropriate for the inspector of prisons
Mr Howarth, himself appearing before the committee, said it was entirely appropriate for the inspector of prisons in England and Wales to have independent views. “It would be quite wrong if (Sir David) were to be seen as in some way a creature of the Home Secretary or the Prison Service or Government,” he said. A HOME OFFICE minister accused the Chief Inspector of Prisons yesterday of failing to check his facts and giving “misleading” evidence to a Commons committee of MPs. George Howarth, who represents the government in the Commons on prison issues, accused Sir David Ramsbotham of relying on “intuition” rather than hard evidence to arrive at some of his conclusions.
The minister submitted a three-page letter to the cross-party Home Affairs Select Committee, saying Sir David’s evidence gave “cause for concern” and “suggested a lack of understanding of both our policy and procedures”.The criticisms are seen as an attempt to undermine the public credibility of the Chief Inspector, who made damning reports on jails, including Wormwood Scrubs in London and the Feltham young offenders’ institution in Middlesex.Sir David’s insistence that the problems are caused by the failings of senior managers has made him deeply unpopular at Prison Service headquarters in London He has two years left of his five-year contract. Mr Dewar, meanwhile, has an interest in playing down his colleague’s role because he faces nationalist criticism that a devolved Scotland is really still being run from Westminster.Earlier this week, Mr Reid delighted colleagues by resisting William Hague’s suggestion that Scottish Westminster MPs should be barred from voting on English legislation.Tam Dalyell, the Labour MP for Linlithgow, has said: “John Reid is a very thrusting politician and now turf wars have broken out with Donald – I don’t know what else people expected.”. This subject is still reserved to Westminster, so Mr Reid found himself holding a similar press conference in London at the same time.Mr Reid’s role, as Scotland’s man in the Cabinet but without much spending power, is to secure the Union after devolution. A press release from Mr Dewar’s officials praising Mr Reid’s role was replaced by another containing no mention of Mr Reid.In another incident, Mr Dewar called a press conference in Edinburgh to announce the Scottish areas proposed for regional assistance from the European Union.
He accused “someone with an axe to grind or someone who wants to climb the ladder” of poisoning the political atmosphere.
His remarks echoed those of his cabinet colleague Clare Short, who once attacked Labour’s spin-doctors as people “who live in the dark”.The clash reflects confusion about the role of the Secretary of State for Scotland now that many powers have been devolved from Westminster to the new Scottish Parliament.Last week, for example, Mr Dewar’s camp was angered at the credit claimed by Mr Reid for saving the Kvaerner shipyard in Govan, Glasgow. Mr Reid had been involved in talks to persuade Kvaerner to sell to GEC Marconi. Mr Reid has spoken of “anonymous forces, always in the dark”, trying to divide the two men, who have been trying to establish who does what under devolution. A RIFT has emerged between Scotland’s two most powerful politicians – Donald Dewar, the First Minister in Edinburgh, and John Reid, Secretary of State for Scotland, who is based in London. The Government must deal with the cause of the crisis – under-investment.
The alternative is a build-up of delays for air travellers that will make the Passport Office queues look like peanuts.”But the Government has said that the complaints by the unions are due to the present system, and private finance would provide the solution.. But Mr Prescott will tell MPs that air safety will be the priority in the new scheme.The leader of the main union for the air traffic controllers, IMPMS general secretary, Paul Noon, said: “Key investment decisions are being held up by uncertainty. Nats needs technology and that is why we want this investment,” said a source. “There is no reason why it couldn’t be done before the election, and if I was betting, I’d say it would be sooner rather than later.”Gavin Strang, the former transport minister who was sacked last year by Tony Blair, is leading backbench protests to the plan, and the chairwoman of the Commons Select Committee on Transport, Gwyneth Dunwoody, is also strongly opposed.One Labour MP has privately warned Mr Prescott that any aircraft accidents will be blamed on the Government after the private-sector partner is brought in to run air traffic control.
A campaign of protests against privatisation is to be launched tomorrow but Mr Prescott is ready to put the plan into effect before the general election, in spite of fears raised by Labour MPs and the unions.
The deal could raise up to pounds 1bn, and the Government will argue that it would mean retaining Nats under public control “We are looking at a new form of public company. The Transport minister Helen Liddell was planning to meet backbenchers before the announcement to allay their concerns about the proposals. The Deputy Prime Minister is expected to announce a plan to turn Nats into a public sector company with a private sector partner. JOHN PRESCOTT is backing the semi-privatisation of the National Air Traffic Control Services (Nats) despite protests by Labour backbenchers.