Back to school

Published 17 Aug 2010 09:30

It is extremely heartening that you report on the success of school students in their national exam results (10/8/2010).

Congratulations is due to the teachers and support staff, but principally to the young folk themselves for all their hard work.

Those who have achieved most were the ones who understood and answered the questions put in the examination papers.

If only our current MSP, Jackie Baillie would emulate these young people we might get an adult debate on knife crime.

Her response to my letter (3/8/2010) totally avoided the straight questions I posed.

These were: 1. If the threat of 10 years’ detention for carrying a knife does not prevent knife carrying, then how does Jackie Baillie think six months would?

2. As so many knife incidents have drink involved, why does Jackie go against all respected medical, social and police opinion and thwart the Scottish Governmemt’s aim to raise the price of alcohol to reduce the amount consumed?

3 Why did she not support the SNP Scottish Government’s achievement of more than an extra 1,000 police on the beat within two years of its election?

Jackie compounds her waywardness by claiming that Labour doubled the maximum sentence for carrying knives.

It did nothing of the sort.

It was an SNP MSP, Stewart Maxwell, who proposed an amendment to the Police Public and Criminal Justice Bill 2006 to double the maximum term for a knife carrying conviction, which was then accepted by all the parties in the Parliament. Jackie really should read what people write before she spouts forth.

I stated the fact that victims of knife crime were often under the influence of drink or drugs.

That fact does not mitigate the crime in any way but shows that the scourge of excessive drinking often contributes to the circumstances of the case.

How Jackie can translate “often” to mean “the vast majority” of knife crimes shows a careless use of words, but regrettably one of a number over the years which demonstrate her hyperbolic tendancies.

It seems to me that Jackie needs to go back to school.

Graeme McCormick, Arden, by Loch Lomond

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This letter appeared in Dumbarton & Vale of Leven Reporter 17 Aug 10

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