A worthy effort at fixing the prisons problem

IS THE long-awaited report of the Scottish Prisons Commission, chaired by Henry McLeish, a "soft-touch charter" that will spare thousands of drug dealers and thugs from jail, as the Tories and Labour complain? Or is it a blueprint for ending recidivism, making low-level offenders become socially responsible, and freeing our prisons of drug abuse, as the authors claim?

Certainly Mr McLeish's report – nine months in the making – is well researched, is thoughtful and pulls no punches in its 23 recommendations. Would that other such policy reviews were so honest.

Mr McLeish's overall thesis has long been public kno...