Yesterday, a plan to start tattoo parlours in Scottish jails drew a lot of rebuke and was seen as a misuse of taxpayers' funds. A report for the Scottish Prison Service proposed the ministers that they should think about getting professional tattooing gear into the nation's prisons, which led to an argument.

It was seen that temporary tattoo equipment such as pens, toothbrush handles and lighters, were partially responsible for diseases like hepatitis C. The report therefore, suggested a proposal, according to which, a tattoo studio should be introduced in a long-stay jail.

Dona Milne, report's author recommended that prison heads should impart knowledge to prisoners regarding tattooing and they should be given clean objects. 54% of Scotland's 8,000 convicts had a tattoo, while 18% got themselves tattooed in the prison itself, 2008 data reveals.

Labour's shadow Justice Secretary, Richard Baker said, "If prisoners are bored then this is a failure of the system that needs to give them more work to do. When money is tight the idea of spending taxpayers cash on a tattoo parlour for convicts is obscene".

North-east Conservative MSP Alex Johnstone said that tattooing should not be encouraged in prisons as it would hamper the rehabilitation process, for which the prisoners are kept in jails.