When asked to write an article on ‘Young People’, there are a few traps that await every politician. The first is to end up preaching to those subjected to your supposed wise words; the second is seeming to patronise them with every utterance. With that in mind, I tread warily on the subject. I hasten to add that I would like to ‘declare an interest’ in the subject, still feeling young at heart, but sadly the mirror does not lie.
So what do young people want or need? Well short of asking them (which maybe ForArgyll will do before the election), here are some thoughts.
Quality Foundations – a loving, supportive and nurturing family
Statistics indicate that a loving family is the main determinant of future happiness and success. That is why marriage should be recognised in the tax system and the ‘couple’s penalty’ in the benefits system removed. Both parents spending time with their children is beneficial and parents should be able to split their 12 months’ parental leave as they decide. The right to flexible working ought to be extended to all parents with children under 18.
Skills for Life: engendering our children with confidence, self respect, community and civic pride and values.
The benefits of play, formal and informal should not be underestimated in a child’s formative years and maybe we should also review the successful Scandinavian model of starting children later in formal education. Good quality education, locally provided, from pre-school nursery through to secondary education is a must. It is therefore important that we sustain quality local primary schools, and allow head-teachers and parents, not politicians, to drive improvements.
Building blocks for the Future: a strong national offering of academic and vocational education is needed.
Expanding apprenticeships and vocational qualifications is crucial; and small & medium sized companies ought to be rewarded for completed apprenticeships.
Sustainable Communities: the availability of local employment and housing in rural areas like Argyll are important.
Availability and affordability of homes in many parts of Argyll is an issue; expanding housing supply with supportive green belt and planning policies along with increased shared equity schemes to get our next generation on the housing ladder in rural areas is vital.
Fun
The one thing missing is fun and enjoyment. Being in a house with a teenager and friends, my ear is regularly bent about there being ‘nothing to do. T’was ever thus? But on the other hand, maybe they do have a point.
- The benefits of every secondary school pupil experiencing one-week’s ‘Outward Bound’ education every year is an idea that excites most. It would provide them with a knowledge and appreciation of unfamiliar environments and communities, helping them to build confidence and self-esteem, teaching pupil’s leadership skills, the need for responsible behaviour and how to deal with new challenges. A recent poll suggests that nearly three-quarters of children are in favour of this type of initiative.
- The need for somewhere for young people to go is a matter that is often raised. If youths are outside on the streets or local parks, they tend to get moved on by the Police, even if they are doing no harm. A wi-fi enabled Youth café in our Argyll towns and villages, with informal supervision, could be a good place to meet friends in safe environment. It could also be a central and accessible base for our youth forums and clubs. This could provide a use for some of the vacant properties in our communities.
- Good all weather sports facilities, especially indoor facilities play a part. The midnight (in reality late night) soccer leagues run in association with the local police offer valuable diversionary activity. In terms of indoor facilities, the Unit23 Skate Park in Dumbarton is an excellent example; undercover and outdoor facilities, foam pits, trampolines and even a dance studio with late opening hours are available. It would excellent to see these across Argyll.
But maybe the final piece of advice for politicians is to do as the song says: ‘believe the children are our are future; teach them well and let them lead the way’.
Gary Mulvaney, Scottish Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Argyll and Bute
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Gary
How do you explain to young people that they should be refused the democratic right to vote in a Referendum to decide their own and their country’s future?
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if the people voted against separation would the nats stop whineing on about it ? no of course they wouldn’t that is why a referendum would achieve nothing only create uncertainty and divert resources and time from solving the issues mr mulvaney has highlighted so well
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I think Willie asked Gary.
With the sort of attitude kintyre 1 shows I don’t know why we divert resources and tile having elections at all.
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Is Kintyre1 actually approving of something (albeit something fairly negative) and coming out of the closet in support of the Conservative & Unionist Party here in his post? That would help explain why he is so scared of the prospect of a referendum.While Gary Mulvaney is exhibiting a good deal more bottle than the present MP for Argyll & Bute by participating in this forum he should concentrate on his main job at present -acting as chauffeur to Sir Jamie Macgrigor, MSP
Although it is a very long time ago now I remember the days when the Tories were a force in Argyll, and even in Bute, and more recently, when they governed the UK -these far off sunlit days of Michael Noble, John MacKay and Margaret Thatcher – and these are not particularly happy memories for Argyll or for Scotland.
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They are all scared, Colin. They’re on the run.
If SNP gets 30 Westminster seats (a majority) do we need a referendum?
My grandfather was a nat before the Second World War and Argyll was the first seat in Scotland even in those days to return good support for the Scottish National Party. This is a natural Tory v SNP seat and this is the way this contest this time is panning out. After being fragmented for the last couple of decades by the attractive Ray Michie the non Tory proportion of the vote is gathering around the SNP again as it used to and I can’t see the SNP not winning Argyll.
(Ray Michie’s father was a founder member of the SNP!)
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didnt the snp leadership support adolf hitler and the nazis to win the second world war isnt that why they spent the war years in jail ?
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No. But a few of the SNP leaders were “conchies” and spent some time in jail becasue of it. You’re probably getting mixed up with the Daily Mail which did support Hitler and hasn’t changed its general attitude since.
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You do make me laugh “kilmartin glen”. Socrates said “Only the extremely ignorant or the extremely intelligent can resist change.”
The local Tories have been a power for good in Argyll and Jamie McGrigor MSP is a hard working servant for the county and is respected across party boundaries. But the National Conservative party is not for Scotland right now. Jamie will I believe continue to fight for his constituents and what’s is right and as such I am happy to have the man represent Argyll’s interests but I cannot claim to feel the same level of comfort from the Scottish Conservative party as a whole.
It is unfortunate that Gary did not share more of his feelings on the youth position like Mike did in his article then perhaps the comments on this page would have been on the issues rather than “kilmartin glen’s” indirect admission to bunking history at school and reading some very doggy propaganda.
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it is a known fact that leaders of the snp hoped for the defeat of the british and were nazi sympathisers . they hoped to be rewarded in the event of the british isles being invaded by being allowed to run a vichy regime in scotland . that is the reason they were despised by the people and were imprisoned.
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There you go again “kilmartin glen” with the “this is a known fact” it is not a known fact. You are referring to a book based on recently released MI5 war papers. The MI5 files claim that Arthur Donaldson, who later became SNP party chairman, was a potential collaborator. However Donaldson was never charged and no evidence for the MI5 allegations has ever been produced. At the time, Donaldson’s arrest was explained by his protests against the conscription of Scottish women for work in factories in England, and he has thus been described as a political prisoner for his six weeks of incarceration. The same MI5 files claim organisations such as the Church of Scotland were also infiltrated by the Nazi’s.
An SNP spokesman is already on record saying: “We accept there may have been coincidences where people involved with the SNP knew of other things.
You have to remember all this information is coming from MI5, which was not impartial and it has to be asked about to what extent you can rely on their files for information.
Many members of the SNP gave their lives during the war. The releasing of this information now, when we are in a general election, is also questionable.”
I also question why you would bring this up here and now, none of the current candidates were even born when these MI5 files were created. This stinks of McCarthyism and should be treated with the contempt it deserves. As I stated earlier, not fact, but propaganda and unfounded fears from a time long since gone. If you need to go back to the Second World War to find a reason not to support the current SNP administration, that is desperate perhaps your a NAT in denial!
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i’m not surprised nationalists wish to airbrush their shabby history . more recently alex salmond and several other leading nationalists were expelled from the snp by snp members because of their extreme views
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It looks to me as though Gary knows where to find young people and converse with them. His opposition appears to be asking older folk about the problems of young people – not a healthy approach in my view.
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There you go again kintyre1 with your own interpretation of history. That’s a right reserved for the victor. We have adult learning classes in Argyll and it is never too late to get a proper education.
The 79 group were indeed expelled including Alex Salmond and Kenny MacAskill, but my reading of the Scotsman article was when it emerged that the 79 Group’s executive, which included Mr Salmond and Mr MacAskill, was planning to establish a Scottish Socialist Society outside the SNP, the party moved to expel them and five other members. 27 years later Alex puts his expulsion down to being a “brash young man” You do dig for your dirt, but there is none here that I see. This was 27 years ago for crying out loud, not recently. What about today’s issues kintyre1.
What you conveniently fail to mention in your little acid bite, this was also the catalyst for change within the SNP and the new stronger invigorated SNP party which now governs our proud country was born out of this time. It is also probable that if this group had not formed we would not have the modern forward thinking SNP party of today and a devolved Scotland. With hindsight you could say these were very good events as it led to today’s political landscape. Can see why it doesn’t sit well with your stuck political view.
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@ Lowry
Well spotted – re the photos. Was thinking the same thing myself. In Mulvaney’s photo there’s a real understanding between the three of them and it’s warm. Actually it’s a good photo to look at at for that reason. Mackenzie’s photo also looks like there’s an interest between him and the people he’s talking to – but they’re the wrong age group so we can’t see what connection he makes with the young.
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Hiyak
Perhaps you can tell us what they are talking about while you’re at it. Maybe he saying
“Don’t laugh now when I tell you I’m a Tory” or “Have you seen Jamie McGrigor, lads. I though I left him here with the carry out ” or “Smile, lads, and we’ll get your photo on For Argyll”.
You’d need to awfy blind to be unable to find young folk dotted about.
What piffle!
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sour grapes from the nats again
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