AS we come breengin doon the final hunner metres afore the election o December 12, aabdy fae the political pairties is pushin tae just get us oot tae vote. Get oot there, mak yer voice heard. There’s a bawhair atween an SNP yellae-wash o Scotland an a blue rinse led by the auld yins whaur the Tories triumph. Yet there’s ae group that we’re aye ettlin tae exclude: prisoners.

Inmates bidin at her Majesty’s pleisure in Scotland are in a ticht spot. They arnae pairt o the SNPs campaign o kindness, an there isnae the Class Solidarity ye’d mibbie hope tae see fae oor leftwing activists. Truth be telt, oor policy tae oor incarcaratit bodies is a bitty ahind whit ye’d hope fir. Ae recent European report wis fu o unco unpleasant readin;

“Ae puir wifie bit through her skin, richt doon tae the bane; anither wis fun, sat alane, haein coatit aa the waas o the cell in her bluid an keich; a third set her ain hair afire.”

Thir words are owreset fae the Cooncil o Europe’s recent report intae Scottish prisons. We were gied a richt dressin doon. An theirs isnae an isolatit impression.

The ither week, the MSP at the heid o a Holyrood cross-pairty group wis scunnert wi the state o Barlinnie Jile. Aifter a visit, she reportit the “urgency” o the situation, how there is fowerteen hunner fowk packit intae the auld jile like kye intae an abattoir. The jile, biggit in the Victorian Era, is at 141% capacity.

Though I dinnae doubt thon reports, this isnae ma experience o prison. I’ve been daein a bit wark in ane o the newer prisons in the HMP estate, an fir the maist pairt aahin I seen wis braw. As I wis telt by ae cheil: “Tae be honest, ma time in prison hae been the best times o ma life. Ye get guid food, exercise, trainin. I dinnae get mistreated.

“Twa folk that were released last year just refused tae ging back oot; they wantit tae bide here. That’s how nice it is.”

In thon prison, education, retrainin, physical an mental health sessions are the order o the dey. Prison is seen as a braw opporunity fir the state tae intervene in the lives o fowk wha’ve in some cases been failed by the state. In ither prisons, as decalrit in the reports abuine, prisons are state interventions that gie fowk a boot tae the wame whan they are doon.

Surely the mair modren prison that I experienced is whit we’re hopin fir; a centre o detention whaur the maist dangerous an destructive elements o oor society are isolatit an kept apairt fir as lang as they are dangerous. Durin thon months an years o seclusion we chuck resources at them tae weave them back intae the wab o society, sae they arnae sae likely tae offend again?

Appairently no. The European Coort o Human Richts gied us a skelpit dowp fir oor denial o votin richts tae aa prisoners. Noo, sleekitly, we hae tried tae jouk aroon this coort order. We’ll be gien the vote tae aabdy in prisons fir less than twalmonth. The issue wi this? Back in February, Justice Minister Humza Yousaf relatit that the Government were gonnae “scrap” sentences o less than a year.

Sae in Scotland, we’ve tane the step o extendin the vote tae a demographic that shortly wilnae exist. Guid ane.

Votin is pairt o oor fundamental human richts. No bein able tae pit yer x in a box cuts ye aff fae politics, which cuts ye aff fae the idea ye hae pooer owre yer surroundins, which maks ye feel like the warld is against ye. Gien the vote tae aa prisoners can help reengage them wi the political process, an mak it clear that society has a place fir them.

There is a strang correlation atween poverty an low voter turnoot. An there is a strang corelation atween poverty an prison. Accordin tae ane o the staff I speirt at anent this, inmates wernae voters afore they cam in, in general.

“A lot of prisoners dinna vote when their oot. Mainly cause o the inability to do so due to not having permanent address/temp[orary] housing and the main een – nae haein ID,” I wis telt.

Bringin votes back tae prisons wad gie the education staff an the state mair generally a chance tae re-engage tint voters wi the democratic process. Seminars, classes, discussions groups could be held, wi explanations an materials gien tae inmates tae explain how aa the different tiers wark.

Politicians wad hae tae ging in tae Barlinnie, Saughton, Grampian tae campaign fir votes. There wadnae be ony hidin fae the grim realitites ootlined in the European report quotit earlier.

The noo, spaffin cash intae jiles isnae a vote winner. It’d be like the NHS fundin stooshin on steroids. Ye aaready hear fowk bumpin their gums, gien it ‘i dinnae use the NHS, how come i should pey fir it?’. An thon’s fir a service that keeps their neighbours, employees, faimlies an whiles theirsels ALIVE. Imagine how they feel aboot the prison service that never serves fowk they ken. But if suddenly aa eight thoosan prisoners in Scotland had a vote? Weel, thon’d mak their issues mair prominent in oor political discourse.

The jiles could stap bein a cowp intae which we bung oor undesirables, an stairt bein a factory o political education, drivin up engagement an rejuivinatin democracy.