The Guardian: Kurds' plight grips Scotland

Church leaders, campaigners and politicians call on executive to defy Home Office and prevent deportation of three hunger strikers

Carolyn Leckie of the Scottish Socialist party has tried, unsuccessfully, to force Holyrood to address the men's plight. "I am speechless because I cannot come to terms with the barbarity and depravity of it all," she says.

"It is about political cowardice and the executive's unwillingness to stick their neck out on political issues. I think Jack McConnell and the Scottish executive are hiding behind the devolution settlement.

"This is important to the Scottish people. It is about what sort of country we want to live in. What sort of values do we want to impart to our children?"

The Herald: Anger over Extension to Dungavel

THE long-running political row over locking up asylum seekers in Scotland reignited yesterday as the Home Office confirmed it was expanding Dungavel detention centre.
Rosie Kane, the Scottish Socialist MSP who took two asylum seekers from the centre into her home, said: "Dungavel has been damned and damned again. For the Home Office to have the brass neck to expand it is just to spit in the face of all concerned."

Scotsman: Fresh outcry over plans to expand Dungavel centre