Scaremongering won't make a safer Scotland

SNP MSP for Glasgow, Bob Doris, has thrown his support behind the Scottish Government's 'No Knifes, Better Lives' initiative by attending the Glasgow launch event of in the city's Wyndford estate in Maryhill (Thursday 22nd July)– a scheme which has proved successful in Inverclyde.

Mr Doris was at the launch, at the site of the former St Gregory's primary school, where he was joined by the Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to see football and basketball competitions amongst a range of other activities.

Such activities benefit financially from the Scottish Government's proceeds of crime cash, another £2.5m of which has just been made available recently to organisations that support young people.

Such initiatives are aimed at providing positive activities for young people and deter a small minority of youngsters who may otherwise be drawn into crime, violence and anti social behaviour. The launch comes against a backdrop of increased police numbers, falling knife crime rates and longer sentencing of those convicted of knife crime themselves.

At the Glasgow launch Mr Doris said: "The No Knives, Better Lives initiative has already had a real impact in Inverclyde with 90% of the local community seeing it as worth while.

"It is also witnessed a 23% in the number of young people found carrying a knife despite an increase in the number of stop and searches in the area.

“That puts the Labour party’s scaremongering on this serious issue into context. Their attempts to spread unneeded fears and mislead people are undermined by schemes which work like 'No Knifes, Better Lives'.

"However we are not complacent. The Wyndford estate is an ideal place to launch this initiative. Like other parts of Glasgow, Maryhill still suffers from youth disorder and knife crime. However with record police numbers, crime rates are falling and the perpetrators of knife crime are going to jail longer than before.

"The ‘No Knifes, Better Lives’ programme is a key part of the Scottish Government's strategy not just to come down hard on those that are a danger to society but to provide diversionary activities for young people so they don’t get drawn into a world of crime and anti social behaviour.

"That is what is being offered here today and with another £250,000 available for groups working with youngsters in Glasgow, £2.5m across Scotland, I would encourage organisations to contact Youthlink Scotland to get a share of the cash.

"Most youngsters that go off the rails are bored, not bad. The 'No Knifes, Better Lives initiative is part of a strategy that provides opportunities to youngsters that are bored but clamps down hard on those that are bad."