 | 'Soon after being sent to Saughton, he landed a plum job as "pantryman", helping to serve up food to his fellow inmates. Disgruntled prison officers complained the peer was given special treatment, including getting his mail hours earlier than other prisoners. And it was claimed another inmate was moved out of his privileged single cell so it could be given to Watson.' Ian Swanson, Scottish Political editor in the Evening News, 22 nd May 2006 |  |
DISGRACED Labour peer Lord Watson will use his experience behind bars to campaign for prison reform, according to friends.
The former MSP, jailed for setting fire to curtains at a prestigious Edinburgh hotel, is due to be released from Edinburgh's Saughton prison tomorrow having served eight months' imprisonment.
He plans to leave Scotland and move to London, where his wife Clare has been working for the past six months.
Despite being convicted of a serious offence and spending time in jail, he is still entitled to sit in the House of Lords.
Friends say he might turn up from time to time and use the chamber as a platform to make one-off speeches, but he is not expected to make any attempt to resume a political career.
Watson, 56, was jailed for 16 months in September last year after he admitted endangering the lives of guests at Prestonfield Hotel by starting a fire after the 2004 Scottish Politician of the Year awards.
The former culture minister was filmed by CCTV cameras crouching at the base of curtains minutes before they caught fire.
An appeal against the length of his sentence was rejected earlier this year, but he is set to get out of jail tomorrow under the usual rules for early release.
One friend said: "Clare is in London and he will be going to join her there.
"I presume he will want just to take stock to start with, but I guess he will do that Jeffrey Archer thing and use his time inside to speak out on prison reform. He has seen the reality of prison from the inside and he will probably want to speak and write on these issues."
Lord Watson has already written books - one on the first year of the Scottish Parliament and another on the history of Dundee United football club.
"He is quite a good writer," said the friend. "He might write books or articles on prison and prison reform."
The friend added: "He would not be looking to go to the Lords as a career, but he might go along occasionally. He is an independent Lord, he does not have a party whip, so he would be living an independent sort of existence. Most independents in the Lords tend to turn up on single issues."
Watson quit as MSP for Glasgow Cathcart and gave up his directorship at Dundee United shortly before he was sentenced.
Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard the blaze at the hotel broke out in the main reception at around 2.15am on November 12, 2004, a few hours after the end of the awards ceremony. Watson initially denied responsibility but CCTV footage showed him crouching at the base of the curtains minutes before they caught fire.
It later emerged he had been drinking heavily and the court heard he had developed a problem with alcohol and had been having a difficult time after his wife's IVF treatment failed.
Soon after being sent to Saughton, he landed a plum job as "pantryman", helping to serve up food to his fellow inmates.
Disgruntled prison officers complained the peer was given special treatment, including getting his mail hours earlier than other prisoners.
And it was claimed another inmate was moved out of his privileged single cell so it could be given to Watson.
Another source said Watson knew he had no future north of the border. "He really has to move away from Scotland because he would not be left alone. He would not be able to do anything here.
"He will probably want to lead as quiet a life as possible. Certainly for the first few months he is going to keep a fairly low profile and rebuild his marriage and his life."
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