It was welcome to see John Swinney sit down with youth violence victim Kaylynn Donald and her mum Vicky in Bute House this week.
For years, there has been an epidemic of brutal attacks on kids in schools, playgrounds and streets – and it has to come to an end.
Kaylynn, 13, wrote to the First Minister in June after the death of 16-year-old Kory McCrimmon in Glasgow following a disturbance in a city park.
The courageous youngster spoke up after suffering a savage assault on a school bus in 2022, which was filmed and posted online and left her suicidal.
It’s heartening that Swinney has met the family face to face to hear about their experiences – and he now must listen to their calls and that of other campaigners.
The mother and daughter want to see a fresh summit on youth violence that directly involves those affected – victims and their families.
A previous cross-party event held last year was considered a flop and a “talking shop” by campaigners because it didn’t engage victims and was held behind closed doors.
As part of the Record’s Our Kids … Our Future campaign, we have repeatedly called on the Scottish Government to invest in safe spaces for kids and teens in every community.
We’ve seen some welcome first steps – but far more needs to be done to keep youths safe and address this sickening spate of attacks.
Swinney must root out this violence epidemic once and for all – not just for kids now but future generations.
Heat is on Labour
Rachel Reeves’ promise that our heating bills will fall is good news.
Far too many Scots have had to struggle through the cost-of-living crisis.
Many people had to choose between heating and eating last winter due to ridiculously high gas and electricity prices.
Bringing down the cost of our bills will help plenty of Scots through tough times this winter.
This kind of pledge is exactly why the country elected this Labour Government.
They wanted a party in charge which would understand the difficulties of working people and would help those who are less well off.
The situation is so bad because of 14 years of torrid Tory rule.
Liz Truss deserves particular blame for crashing the economy, making inflation worse in the UK than other countries.
This new Labour Government cannot afford to sit on its heels.
It must make sure life gets better for those of who need it most.
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