Hague joins Titan prison campaign

SHADOW Foreign Secretary William Hague has added his weight to the campaign to block any plan to build a Titan Prison on the Omega development site at Warrington.
Mr Hague joined local protesters on the site and met a number of Whittle Hall residents in company with Warrington South Conservative Prospective Parliamentary candidate David Mowat.
Mr Hague reiterated Conservative opposition to Titan prisons in Warrington or elsewhere.
He saudL “The country needs more prisons after years of Labour neglect, but this is the wrong approach.
“These massive prisons are little more than universities of crime and do not offer help with re-habilitation. We need more local prisons but they should be smaller and situated nearer the communities they serve.”
Mr Mowat said: “There will have to be a General Election within the next year, hopefully with a change of government to the Conservative Party. Labour is running out of time and so is this proposal.”
Meanwhile, Warrington South MP Helen Southworth has met with Justice Secretary Jack Straw to reiterate her own strong opposition and that of her constituents to any proposal for a Titan prison in Warrington.
She said: “I have again made absolutely clear that the Omega site is not suitable for a Titan prison. As in previous meetings with the Justice Secretary, and with the Prisons Minister, I stressed that the Omega site has huge economic importance for Warrington, bringing investment in new technology industries into the area. The intended use for Omega as a high quality business park with associated hotel retail leisure and conference facilities must be maintained.
“I have made it absolutely clear to Jack Straw that developing a high quality business park on Omega is hugely important to the local economy, creating 12,000 jobs over the next 10 years, and that there is extensive and sustained local opposition to any use of Omega as a site for a new prison. It would be completely inappropriate and unsuitable to use Omega as a site for a new prison.”
Pictured: William Hague and David Mowat with local protesters