Fighting to give every child the best start - Alex Cole-Hamilton
This week, Scottish Liberal Democrats have been getting stuck in. It’s the first real opportunity in this new parliament to make our voices loud and clear on the issues that matter.
The same can’t exactly be said for the SNP, who used the first parliamentary debate slot to wax lyrical about the constitution.
It is extremely telling that they chose to do this instead of discussing how they will tackle the issues that matter, from the health service to the ferries to the state of our schools.
If they seriously think this is the most pressing thing for the parliament to be debating at the start of a new term, they seem to be gearing up to waste the next five years.
Nevertheless, I am immensely proud of our group of Scottish Liberal Democrats for realigning the focus on what really matters.
Just look at our new MSP for the South of Scotland, Duncan Dunlop, using that very same debate to drag ministers back to where their priorities should be.
Care-experienced young people, those who have been let down by Nicola Sturgeon’s broken Promise, which was intended as the benchmark for Scotland’s care system.
You could hear a pin drop when Duncan was speaking in the chamber.
He spoke of the 13,000 children and young people in care in Scotland today, many of whom he worked with in the last 30 years before being elected as an MSP.
He spoke movingly of the experiences of one young person, Tony Macdonald, who spent most of his childhood in care. He spoke of the severe hurt and shame felt by Tony, how he was restrained by staff at his children’s home, how that trauma haunted him for the rest of his life.
Duncan went on to name just some of those young people who have died, not a single of them older than 25.
In doing so, Duncan reminded the Scottish Government of what it truly means to be ambitious for Scotland. To use the powers already in our constitution, to work constructively to improve this system, to end this national emergency.
Duncan’s speech really struck a chord with me, not least because it shone a light on all those issues I saw as a youth worker.
For the best part of twenty years, I helped some of the most disengaged young people get their lives back on track.
These included children trafficked to Scotland, enslaved by drug gangs, kids who had been left down by the care system or who lived in poverty.
Too often, these kids are written off, when all they really need is some direction, a need that has only been fuelled by the isolating impact of Covid and lockdown.
It’s why we committed to bringing forward a Youth Work Bill in our manifesto.
This is legislation that could foster more opportunities for young people, including those who are disengaged from education, at risk of falling behind, or who need mentorship and fresh inspiration to learn new skills.
Scottish Liberal Democrats believe every young person and child deserves the very best start in life, and Duncan’s contributions this week are just a snapshot of how we intend to use our position in parliament to fight for that vision.