Parents who have lost children to Scotland's knife crime crisis have issued a video plea to First Minister John Swinney, demanding action on the epidemic. Neil McCrimmon, Lisa Petrie and Ashleigh Mullan, each of whom has lost a child to blade violence, are calling for a review into why young people become involved in knife crime and how effective current prevention programmes are.
Review of knife sales and bleed kits demanded
The families also want a review of current controls around the sale of knives. They believe bleed kits, which can help control bleeding after an attack, need to be more widely available in communities.
Their calls come amid the Daily Record's youth violence campaign, Our Kids... Our Future, launched in February 2023 after reports of escalating attacks on children and young people. As part of the campaign, the newspaper has demanded the Scottish Government invest in safe spaces for young people so they can get the support they need to stay out of trouble.
Drug deaths leave 510 children behind
Separately, children's charity Aberlour has highlighted a hidden aspect of Scotland's drug death crisis. Its chief executive, Justina Murray, claims the 1,133 drug deaths revealed this week will include 510 parents, leaving children behind.
Murray said those children will need support from other family members, teachers, social workers and the wider community to recover. The charity's contribution comes amid debate over Scotland's relationship with drug abuse, with new Labour leader Michael Marra making a valid point that if middle-class people were dying in droves due to a healthcare failure, it would have been sorted decades ago.
