We must act now on youth violence
Hope Lyden’s story is all too familiar to anyone paying attention to the Record’s Our Kids…Our future campaign.
The 13-year-old was brutally assaulted in an unprovoked attack that was filmed and shared online.
The girl needed hospital treatment but thankfully the physical scars will heal.
It will take Hope much longer however to get over the trauma she experienced at the hands of other youths, not just the ones who directly participated in the violence but those who stood by and watched,
Footage of the sickening attack has gone viral, which might have been the aim all along of those who put Hope through such a horrific ordeal.
The incident brings home – yet again –the need for action on the Record’s core demands to help make the country safer for young people.
Social media giants don’t do nearly enough to stop the sort of content that fuels these attacks from finding an audience. They’re inability to properly police their own platforms is clear and governments should step in to force them to act.
We are fed up hearing all the right noises while still able to find disgraceful content within a few clicks.
And there are simply not enough safe spaces for young people to attend so they can socialise without fear of being attacked. Simply, more must be done to end this kind of behaviour.
Surely it can’t be beyond Scotland in 2025 to keep kids like Hope safe?
Fight tariff corner
The Scottish Government is limited in how it can respond to Donald Trump and the lunacy of his pro-tariffs agenda.
Foreign affairs is a matter reserved to Westminster and it’s ultimately up to Keir Starmer to lead the UK’s response to Washington.
But that doesn’t mean John Swinney must stand back and accept the looming threats coming for key Scottish exports like whisky. It’s vital the First Minister fights Scotland’s corner in the face of the latest crackpot schemes coming from Trump’s inner circle.
In public, the SNP leader must tread a fine line between maintaining diplomatic niceties with the US and dealing with the economic reality of its policies.
As Swinney himself admitted yesterday, no one yet knows if a tit-fot-tat trade war between America and China could tip the global economy into recession.
The US president has temporarily paused other tariffs but they could easily be implemented at the drop of a hat.
That would cost sales in Scotland and, ultimately, jobs.
In these uncertain waters, Swinney must chart a course to protect the nation’s interests.