Chamber and committees

This weekend, storm Bert caused chaos across Scotland, with ScotRail and Caledonian MacBrayne both announcing cancellations, while motorists were stranded and the Queensferry crossing was closed. One of my constituents, who was stuck on the M8 for hours, said that it was only after two hours that he saw a police car, that people were cutting into the hard shoulder and that the situation was dangerous for emergency vehicles.

The impact of the storm was severe but not unexpected. As is now well established, people will still travel despite the issuing of weather warnings, and it seems that the authorities had no idea how they all got caught out. What actions is the cabinet secretary taking to future proof our transport network for extreme weather events?

Unite the union has found that 84 per cent of bus drivers have experienced abuse in the past 12 months, with drivers frequently being beaten, spat on or threatened by teenagers. A growing number of young people feel that such shocking behaviour is acceptable. There must be stronger measures in place to protect our bus drivers. What action is the First Minister taking to protect drivers and to clamp down on the under-22s who abuse their free bus pass by committing antisocial behaviour?

This comes back to the longevity of the petition. You might remember the furore and activity that surrounded Callum Isted’s first appearance at the committee. The First Minister at the time made significant promises. To keep his hopes up, he is a very determined campaigner. Whatever the outcome of the committee’s decision, I know that Callum will still be fighting long and hard for environmental issues that are close to his heart. He continues to campaign for a variety of things locally and, as I said, he is a very determined young lad. I am proud of everything that he has done to bring the issue to the attention of the committee.

We need to challenge each of our decisions on how we interact with and take forward sustainable goals, and Callum determined that his proposal would be a quick win, albeit that it might have had cost implications. It is disappointing that only 13 local authorities have expressed an interest in the proposal, but I am sure that Callum will carry on campaigning.

The convener noted that there have been two First Ministers since Ms Sturgeon was First Minister. She promised Callum a visit to Bute house. Given that that promise has never been honoured, I wonder whether the committee might ask the current First Minister if he would extend such an invitation to Callum.

No, he is older than that. I am getting it wrong. I am not very good with ages. He is now about as tall as my shoulder height. [Laughter.]

I met Callum the other week, and he is as determined as ever.

I think that he is nine, although I might have got that wrong.

He is probably nine now.

I thank Mr Cole-Hamilton for bringing this topical and timely debate to the chamber. I am glad to have the chance to speak today, especially after the outrageous behaviour that took place across our capital city last week. I will focus on those events, although antisocial behaviour across our capital encompasses far more than just bonfire night, as we have heard already.

I have previously written about the impact of the SNP’s police budget raids and how repeated cost cutting has slashed the number of front-line officers and is contributing to rising antisocial behaviour. That was apparent for all to see. The events of bonfire night demonstrated, once again, that there is a hardcore element that is determined not just to challenge authority but to positively revel in making ordinary people feel uncomfortable in their own homes.

It could be argued that that hardcore element now views 5 November as an opportunity to face off with police. Our police are stretched to breaking point by SNP cuts, so many criminals know that they can get away with it. We want to double jail time for people who attack our emergency services.

Trevor Wemyss is a constituent of mine. He wrote to me on 6 November, saying:

“My wife and I arrived home to witness a group of 25 balaclava clad and dressed in black youths arrive in our car park.

They were carrying giant fireworks and spoke about firing them at the flat windows. They were also armed with baseball bats.

For the next 3 hours the scheme was virtually held under siege as they set off fireworks and threw bottles. We are lucky that, so far nobody has died or been seriously injured. Allowing mobs to attack the petrol station on Calder Road could have led to multiple casualties!

We cannot allow massed armed groups to take over our streets, we need decisive action from our politicians and police force.”

Bus drivers, families living in the area and emergency services are all suffering because of this unacceptable behaviour. It gets worse every year. If it continues like this, someone is going to get seriously hurt. Another constituent wrote to me, saying:

“I live in Moredun in the south of the city and that last night was terrifying. Black-clad balaclava-wearing youths started appearing in my area about 6 pm and as the evening went on, we had to deal with a group of about 20 of them hanging about with weapons, fireworks being thrown around and lit on the road, a fire being set, bins being stolen and set on fire, one of my neighbours was threatened with a baseball bat, the fences from the greenspace redevelopment were used to barricade the road ... I called 999 3 times, 3 of my neighbours also called 999 multiple times and no one ever showed up.

Even later on when police were along Moredun Park Road and my neighbour called 999 again and was told officers were being sent down, no one showed up. My husband went out and (with the assistance of a neighbour) put a fire out himself during a quiet period. Other residents joined him to move fences back and pick up litter strewn about from stolen bins.

I understand it was a crazy night and the police were stretched very thin, but we should not be left to fend for ourselves and literally put fires out on our own.”

I went out on patrol with the police just two weeks ago to see for myself what a routine patrol looks like, and it should worry us all. As I mentioned, many of my constituents have experienced slow responses to 999 calls and have wondered what is going on. What they will not know is how many vehicles are off the road, how many officers are off sick and what those at work must deal with.

As long as the police are underresourced, overstretched and forced to operate as social workers, communities will feel threatened by gangs of disaffected youths who feel that they can act with impunity. I most definitely associate myself with the comments of the previous contributor, Mr Bob Doris.

Might the minister extend an invite to other members who are taking part in the debate this evening, because the issue is equally pertinent to all of us who are here?

That operation may have been a success at the time, but surely the member must admit that the antisocial driving of off-road bikes is still prevalent across the city, which is causing a lot of distress.