BYC @ The Scottish Parliament
On 22/11/07 The British Youth Council put on an event at Holyrood, the seat of Scottish Government, for young people from all over Scotland. Catch21 was there to put on a panel debate with MSPs, inviting questions from the audience.
Chaired by our very own Mary Scott, the panel consisted of representatives from each of Scotland's major political parties, including:
-
Aileen Campbell MSP - Scottish National Party
Member of the Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee -
Hugh O'Donnell MSP - Liberal Democrats
Shadow Spokesman for schools -
John Park MSP - Labour Party
Business/industrial issues; skills; energy; industrial relations; housing; sport. -
Gavin Brown MSP - Conservative Party
Edinburgh South -
Patrick Harvie MSP - Scottish Green Party
Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change Committee
Here are highlights from the show:
Part One - Introductions
Each of the MPs on the panel introduce themselves and talk a little about how they got to Parliament.
Part Two - Scottish Independence
The MSPs are asked how they feel about the idea of Scotland becoming Independent, which provokes a broad range of responses.
Part Three - Are Young People Listened To?
Concerned about whether their opinion counts, a member of the audience asks whether young people are able to influence politicians and get their views heard.
Part Four - Things to do
Kirsten asks why young people get so much grief when there is nothing for young people to do? This sparks a debate on negative stereotyping and providing facilities.
Part 5 - Cannabis
The MSPs are grilled on their stances towards the declassification of Cannabis, which leads to an interesting discussion on legalising drugs and Amsterdam.
Part 6 - Raising the Smoking Age
Moving on from cannabis, the MSPs talk about the dangers of smoking tobacco, and young people's right to choose.
Part 7 - Bullying
The panel tackles the issue of bullying, with the audience chipping in with their views and ideas.
Part 8 - Mental Health
Concern is voiced about the poor state of care for young people in Scotland with mental health issues.
Part 9 - Transport
The group discuss transport, and the difficulty and expense people living in the Shetlands and rural areas have when trying to get around.
Part 10 - Minimum Wage
The audience want to know why they don't get paid as much as their slightly older colleagues.
More information
Catch21 has hosted events with the BYC before. See our previous feature; The British Youth Council at the Welsh Assembly from October 2007.
