First
Backbench Debate to Highlight Scotland’s Suicide Shame
The biggest killer of young men
in Scotland – suicide – will be the subject of the first ever Member’s
Business Debate in the new Scottish Parliament.
MSP for Greenock and
Inverclyde, Duncan McNeil has secured the debate to coincide with International
Suicide Prevention Week, which runs from the 5th to the 11th
of September.
Speaking ahead of the debate,
set for the first day of parliamentary business at Holyrood (Tuesday 7th
September), Mr McNeil said:
“The biggest killer of
young men in Scotland isn’t a blade or a car.
It’s their own hand. I for
one don’t want to live in a society which lets so much potential go to waste.
It’s shameful.”
He continued:
“This is exactly the sort
of issue the Scottish Parliament should be debating – a Scottish problem in
need of a Scottish solution.
“Figures from the
Samaritans show that, while suicide trends are down 15% in England and Wales
over the last decade, they are up 17% in Scotland.
And, although numbers are now falling, suicide is still the main cause of
death for men aged 15 to 44.
“Initiatives such as the
Choose Life strategy – aimed at reducing suicides by 20% over the next 10
years – and the introduction of Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training
are, of course, welcome. But I want
to use this debate to urge the Executive to push on, identify and support those
at risk and end the scandal of young men feeling they have so little to live
for, so little hope, that their only option is to take their own life.”
ENDS
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