Scotland is a small country with a population of roughly 5 million, so in the scale of things, all our institutions should likewise show that smallness. For example our courts should be among the smallest in Europe, but surprise, surprise, Glasgow's Sheriff Court is the busiest in Europe. What a bunch of nasty criminals we must be!! It appears the oor wee Glesca court processes around 2,000 nasties a day. Are we really that criminal a bunch, or is the system simply trying to screw us to the deck with greater enthusiasm than the rest of Europe does with their citizens?
Not only is it the busiest court in Europe, but it seems to be the most degrading with foul conditions for those being held in its cages. Women seem to come of worst, according to the recent report by David Strang, HM chief inspector of prisons, who states, female prisoners kept in the holding cells at Europe’s busiest court are forced to endure “degrading and inhumane” conditions, ---"a lack of privacy for female inmates who must walk past unscreened male
toilets that were “odorous and clearly visible from the hallway”. Corton Vale Women's Prison also comes in for some nasty criticism.
In this system of capitalism, conditions for those arrested are away down the priority list, if they will cut the benefits to the disabled, you can only guess what priority they give to those they deem to be the scourge of their lucrative little scam. You can forget that crap about innocent until proved guilty, arrested, you are treated like a second class citizen, your conditions are of no concern to the lords and masters, rulers of the system.
No matter where you look, our conditions are on the way down, from over crowed prisons, excessive arrests, social services being trashed, benefits being cut, benfit sanctions, workfare slave labour, employment conditions dropping ever closer to third world conditions, public spaces disappearing into the domain of the corporate world, public assets being sold off to the financial Mafia at knock-down prices, and so it goes on. If you don't recognise this as class war, and we are losing, then you're not paying attention.
