Too many young men and boys are losing their lives on Scotland’s streets. And too often, chances are being missed by authorities to intervene and prevent bloodshed. Amen Teklay’s youth worker has shared his experience of trying to raise the alarm after viewing sickening clips of the schoolboy being attacked in the days before his death, but he claims no one came to help. It is heartbreaking to think that this could have been an avoidable tragedy.
Kayden Moy's Murder and Missed Warnings
Kayden Moy was murdered on a day out at Irvine beach last summer, aged just 16. Like Amen, he was stabbed and left to bleed out. Just three weeks ago, Kayden’s dad Paul asked why the teenage thugs who murdered his son were at liberty despite previous warnings over violence in his hometown of East Kilbride. This series of horrific events must spark fresh debate on how to end this cycle of violence.
Our Kids... Our Future Campaign
The Record launched its Our Kids... Our Future campaign in response to the issue more than three years ago. We have repeatedly called for ringfenced funding to help safeguard teens in their communities. First Minister John Swinney said he wanted to deal with the problem, but the Scottish Government has sat on its hands for far too long. Knife violence among young men needs to be addressed with real change because this scourge is still gripping us. How many more young people must die before our streets are made safe?
HS2 and Scotland's Benefits
£100 billion is a lot of money. The Scottish Government annual budget for health and social care is £22.5 billion, covering an entire country of 5.5 million people. Stephen Flynn points out that the HS2 high-speed line between London and Birmingham could end up costing as much as the International Space Station, at £102 billion. There was a solid case for adding desperately needed capacity to Britain’s rail network, as anyone who has recently used the dreadful West Coast mainline between Glasgow and London can attest. Building HS2 was supposed to deliver benefits to Scotland. Taxpayers north of the Border have helped pay for this project, after all. But, for whatever reason, HS2 has gone badly wrong and will stop 200 miles south of the Border. HS2 will get finished, one way or another, but the benefits to Scotland remain to be seen.
