Chamber and committees

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to address youth unemployment and whether it will work with the United Kingdom Government to support the delivery of better opportunities for young people. (S7O-00244)

The interim findings of Alan Milburn’s review on youth unemployment, which were published in the summer, show that almost 1 million 16 to 24-year-olds are not in education, employment or training across the UK. That means that there is a generation of young people whose needs are not being met.

I thank the minister for his answer. Some of the figures look positive. However, given the overall concern about youth unemployment I am interested in what can be done to ensure that we are totally on track and can identify young people who did not do well at school and have not been found by the agencies. That is where the issue lies.

I thank Gillian Mackay for bringing the debate to the chamber, and I agree with the cabinet secretary that it is absolutely right that we discuss international affairs. After all, they affect us, and it is why the Scotland Act 1998 was written in the way that it was.

I point out that Kit Malthouse, the Conservative MP for North West Hampshire, has been one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s actions, saying that British foreign policy implies that Palestinian lives matter less than anyone else’s. Therefore, far from being a cause that is left wing in nature, it is actually widespread, given the number of people who see this injustice for what it is.

I believe that justice for Palestinian people is the moral question of our time, and there are millions of Scots who believe that, too. This is the longest and most brutal occupation in history. It is, in international law, an illegal occupation; indeed, that is not contested—except by Israel, obviously.

In 1993, the Palestine Liberation Organization accepted the existence of Israel and accepted that a Palestinian homeland would be formed on 22 per cent of former Palestinian land. We can understand why the Palestinians would say that there could be no further concessions on land to form a second viable state, but that could not be further away.

There is systematic violence, the displacement of families, the forced demolition of houses, economic restrictions, strangulation deliberately blocking Palestinian produce from leaving the country and political detention to lock up young men in underground Israeli prisons without trial while their families do not know where they are. Children are shot in the street—it happened last week on the West Bank—and the rule of law is not applied.

There are viewing platforms on the Gaza border where Israelis are invited to witness the ongoing genocide in Gaza. In Gaza, 95 per cent of children expect to die, because there have been 223,000 tonnes of explosives and ammunition deployed in the past three years.

I want to be on the right side of history, and I know that many people in the chamber do. I do not want to be a bystander; I want to do what I can. The merciless bombing of innocent children and hospitals is humanity’s darkest moment.

Pope Francis broke with diplomatic tradition and denounced Israeli policies in Palestinian territories. He said that the conflict was one of the great failures of humanity and he stated that the arrogance of the occupiers undermined the dialogue.

The levels of violence in the West Bank are unprecedented and are primarily driven by a surge in large-scale Israeli military operations. In 2026 alone, 3,500 families have been driven from their homes due to settler violence, and more than half of them have included children. Soldiers are free to do whatever they want. They have killed and they have maimed. Palestinians get no justice, and there do not seem to be any consequences.

Israel is emboldened by the fact that the world does very little to stop it. There is some resistance from European countries such as Spain, Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, the UK and France, as well as from Canada, but their purpose is not to provide Israel with the impunity that it has been used to.

I condemn all violence, and I am on record condemning the atrocities of 7 October. I want to see peace in the Middle East. I have campaigned for it for 30 years, but we know that there will not be peace for Israelis or Palestinians unless there is a viable Palestinian state.

There are those in Israel who truly care about their country. A good friend of mine, Dr Alon Liel, who was a former adviser to Ariel Sharon and other prime ministers, has been demonstrating in the streets of Tel Aviv about Israeli policies and for Palestinians. He told me that what offends him most is that the Israel that he fought for, and the Israel that he wants to serve, is not the Israel that he is living in right now, and he says that it is not helping the state of Israel that it is allowed to behave like this. The world must act, and Britain has a great deal of responsibility.

The Scottish Government has been criticised by Amnesty International for not being transparent enough about the actions that it can take on public procurement, so I want the cabinet secretary to set that out in his closing speech. Scotland has devolved powers, so it can act, but we have not seen enough evidence of that in the Government’s data.

In his closing speech, will the cabinet secretary be transparent and clear about what action he has taken since a similar motion was last lodged in Parliament, so that Scotland can do its part and ensure that we have actually done something and not been only bystanders?

17:23

Thinking ahead to the changes that we can make to programmes in order to make a difference, could role models for young men perhaps be incorporated into them?

I have some sensitive stuff to deal with. I might take an intervention later, but I want to say this.

Members may have followed the case of Gisèle Pelicot. A story on the news last night was an unfortunate replica of that case. A man in Stockport is accused of drugging and raping his wife without her knowledge over a 20-year period. He has so far admitted 60 offences against her, including rape, and 12 other men are also accused of multiple serious sexual offences against his wife.

Those are not isolated cases. Zoe Watts from Devon was in a relationship with her husband for 18 years, during which time he crushed sleeping pills into her tea at night so that he could rape, photograph and film her. Amanda Stanhope from Manchester was repeatedly raped by her partner while she was unconscious on prescription medication and woke up disoriented, in different clothes and with bruises on her body. They started a campaign called “EndEyeCheck” with the name referring to a practice in which perpetrators pull back a sedated victim’s eyelids to check that they are unconscious before committing an assault, often recording those acts and sharing them online. Hundreds of women that we know of have experienced that, in at least 22 countries around the world, so it is a global problem. We need leadership here, in Scotland, but we know that we are part of a global problem. How on earth did we get to this point? That is what Parliament must address in the next four to five years.

The depth and extent of male violence against women is only just emerging. We must hold men criminally accountable for those horrendous cases, and there can be no doubt that if we are serious about getting to the root causes—something that the First Minister has talked about—we must start talking to boys at an early age. The “Lost Boys” report from the Centre for Social Justice tells us that young men’s behaviour is increasingly being shaped by violent and degrading pornography. Professor Clare McGlynn from Durham University has also argued that mainstream internet pornography has grown extreme and is changing young men’s perception of safe and consensual sex, normalising extreme behaviour such as choking. That is why I have come to believe that the online sphere is a new frontier.

Others have spoken about the proliferation of sexually explicit deepfake pornographic images, which has grown at an alarming rate and caused devastating harm to victims, who are almost always women and girls. Ross Greer’s point about the statistics on sexual harassment is true. Teenage girls have found that their classmates are using apps to transform their social media posts into nude images before sharing them. Currently, the distribution and sharing of such images is a criminal offence but their creation is not. I have had an exchange with the First Minister about the need to criminalise that behaviour, and I am aware that a consultation is ongoing. I am glad that that is happening, but I would like us to make progress on the issue as soon as possible.

Government policies are not effectively tackling the problem because they perhaps do not get to its root. Rape Crisis Scotland has pointed out that more resources need to be put into preventative work. I would like to have that discussion with the Government over the next few years.

Boys and young men need to be educated in order to help prevent sexism and misogyny from developing. Males badly need role models. Another discussion needs to be had about that. Gareth Southgate gave a lecture on the issue fairly recently. He is not the only man considering the matter, but it is worth listening to those who have given it serious thought. Without such role models, we will struggle to address the fundamental issue.

We have seen an increasing number of young women and girls reporting sexual harassment and assault in schools. It is a longer-term problem, that is for sure.

Tony Lenehan has been quoted a few times. He is an experienced advocate who has represented many of those young men and seen many of those cases, so he is worth listening to. He said:

“I see distressingly many 17, 18 and 19-year-olds with an entrenched pattern of abusive, including sexually abusive, behaviour. Talking about choking and the like, or violent pornography, is a squeamish conversation to have with 15, 16 and 17-year-olds, but there needs to be more of that”—[Official Report, Criminal Justice Committee, 9 September 2026; c 15.]

if we are to make any progress.

16:17

I am heartened by the First Minister’s leadership in this regard. He has conducted himself with deep sincerity and I give a personal commitment to work with the Scottish Government on this societal issue.

We have passed many laws here to try to protect women and have all fought for societal change, yet we are still here and violence against women and girls is rising. We must ask ourselves why that is happening, and, in my opinion, the stunning speech from Karen Adam made a big contribution towards answering that.

The problem is not refugees, class or ethnicity. The problem is men. That is the problem. The latest figures from the Crown Office show a substantial increase in domestic abuse charges over the past two years, with the most serious domestic abuse crimes such as murder and culpable homicide almost doubling. An increasing number of shocking cases have come to light.

As we begin the seventh session of the Scottish Parliament, it is clear that there is a need for parties that believe in challenging the narrative of the various protests, some of which are stirring up anti-immigration sentiment and causing wider harm to our ethnic communities, to come together. I agree with the minister and pledge today that Scottish Labour believes that we must work together—I hope that that is clear.

I am personally alarmed when I talk to friends and constituents who tell me that they have experienced an increase in racism and feel less safe. They have always faced racism, unfortunately, but there has been a change, which is alarming. That is why I was proud to be part of the Stand Up To Racism “Off our streets—no to the far right” rally in June. In fact, it was that rally that featured in the BBC documentary on Glasgow. Where there was a counterprotest that spilled over, it proved to be febrile and menacing, and the police had some difficulty in keeping order. I saw the angry faces of men, some who had face coverings. That is not the Glasgow that I know, which has a proud history of welcoming immigrants and refugees. I have spent my political career arguing for that, so I am clear about where I stand on it.

For those who have not seen it, the documentary gave a large chunk of the airtime to the far-right vigilante group Scots Active, whose spokesperson talked about cultures not aligning and there being a race war. Unfortunately, the documentary had a lack of voices from refugee charities, which I think would have helped to provide some balance.

The documentary also showed open drug dealing, violence, theft and antisocial behaviour in Glasgow’s city centre. I am sure that Glasgow’s city centre is not the only place where that happens, but that activity intensified when there was no police presence. Policing our streets and our city centres is absolutely essential to making a difference. We used to police Glasgow a lot more visibly than we do now, and the current situation has to change.

I agree with Stephen Kerr that there is a bit of a crisis in policing that the Government needs to recognise. If we do not have officers on the front line, we cannot uphold the rule of law. Upholding the rule of law is also about ensuring that we have cohesive communities and public confidence in tackling hate crime, but we cannot do any of that if we do not have police officers visible on our streets. The latest statistics show that, over a 10-year period, we lost 1,000 police officers from our streets.

Crime is on the rise, and youth violence remains a serious concern, with an increase in the number of 11 to 15-year-olds carrying knives. Although a good job has been done on the number of people carrying knives—there was a bit of a reduction in those figures, which has to be recognised—the numbers are increasing among that particular age group. The Government is in denial about that, but I think that it has to be addressed. It makes no sense to me that the Scottish Government would cut funding for initiatives such as the no knives, better lives programme, which was mentioned last week, when we clearly have an issue.

On violence against women and girls, it is also important that the Government recognises that boys need positive role models. That needs to be part of the solution. Time and again in this chamber, I have argued that we must tackle the root causes of the epidemic of violence against women and girls. A year ago, Gareth Southgate—we know him as a former professional footballer—gave a lecture. I think that his words resonated a lot with many young men when he said that there is “a growing crisis” among young men and that they need positive role models so that they do not turn to misogynistic behaviour and “toxic influencers”.

The latest Crown Office figures show that, over the past two years, the most serious domestic abuse crimes, such as murder and culpable homicide, have almost doubled. We have to look at the root causes of that, or those figures will continue to rise.

This summer, Stacy Hunter was murdered by a former partner who had been bailed after previously trying to strangle her, and had been told to stay away from her. Stacy’s family has urged the Scottish Government to expedite the roll-out of GPS tracking of violent offenders. The Cabinet Secretary for Justice has spoken about that and about the Government’s plans, but he has not been able to tell the Parliament that there has been any progress on that, which gives me cause for concern.

If the Government is serious about reform and tackling what I think is a crisis in criminal justice, it cannot be done without up-front investment. The Criminal Justice Committee was told this morning that we cannot adhere to the legal time limit for High Court trials and that, instead of 30 days, it will be 900 days. That is an absolute outrage. Criminal justice has to be a priority for this coming budget.

As well as joining with the Government in its work in this area, as I said earlier, we will also be arguing for better funding for criminal justice for those reasons.

I move amendment S7M-01084.4, to insert at end:

“; recognises that Scotland will only build safe and inclusive communities by fundamentally tackling inequality and delivering better opportunities and living standards for everyone, and calls on the Scottish Government to restore policing at a local level, while addressing the needs of communities across the country, including by reversing declining Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores, reforming the skills system and improving access to good local health and social care.”

Does the cabinet secretary agree that the escalation of extreme physical brutality and violent raids by illegal settlers in the West Bank and by the Israel Defense Forces represents Palestinian ethnic cleansing—a deliberate erasing of the Palestinian state? I am glad that he welcomes the Foreign Secretary’s announcement yesterday, but will he also acknowledge that the policy is backed by the new Prime Minister? It represents action, not just words. It is perhaps the bare minimum, but the UK Government took a big step yesterday. I hope that the Scottish Government will work alongside the UK Government in good faith, so that we can be clear with the international community that this is where we all stand.

Scottish Labour welcomes the review of the response to wildfires. The Cairngorms wildfire lasted longer and spread further than it needed to because the fire service did not have enough of the equipment that it needed. Scottish firefighters and volunteers put in heroic shifts to contain and extinguish the fires, but they were working beyond the point of exhaustion, critically supported by crews in control rooms and with resources drawn away from other regions of Scotland.

The Fire Brigades Union has long warned that the service needs to be properly equipped for threats that are due to climate change. However, the loss of 1,239 firefighters since 2012 and the crisis in the retained duty system are pushing the service to breaking point. Currently, 200 of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s 311 retained duty system appliances are unavailable due to insufficient retained duty system crew numbers. In relation to the cabinet secretary’s statement, where would the standby helicopter resources come from? What assessment has been undertaken regarding the suitability of the crewing arrangement for those specialist resources and the risk that they might be unavailable due to crew shortages on any given day?