Minister Pays Tribute to Telegraph as
Landmark Legislation Passed
Speaking in the Scottish Parliament yesterday, Communities
Minister, Margaret Curran, paid tribute to the Greenock
Telegraph and its campaign to help local residents speak out
against antisocial behaviour.
Steering the
final parts of the landmark Antisocial Behaviour etc.
(Scotland) Bill through the Scottish Parliament, the Minister
thanked “those who facilitated access to people who were
perhaps too frightened or too defeated to tell us of their
experience and concerns. In particular, I thank the Daily
Record and the Greenock Telegraph, which ran
extremely effective specialist campaigns.”
The Telegraph
acted as an intermediary for information concerning drug dealing
and antisocial activity in Inverclyde, ensuring that the police
were made aware of the details which readers felt too intimidated
to pass on directly. It proved both very popular and
effective.
MSP for Greenock and Inverclyde, Duncan McNeil,
welcomed the Minister’s comments and the passing of the
Bill, saying:
“I am delighted that this vital and
long-awaited Bill has been passed and that the Minister made time
to congratulate the Telegraph on its hugely successful
campaign.
“The
public response to the Telegraph’s initiative exposes
the nonsense of the argument – put forward by fringe party
MSPs; politically correct commentators; and some professionals
who, to be frank, have completely failed to deal with the problem
– that antisocial behaviour is something politicians have
invented for electoral purposes.”
The Minster
also thanked “the communities that participated in the
consultation process over the past year. I have attended
many meetings on antisocial behaviour throughout Scotland and I
hope that those who attended from the communities see the results
of those meetings in our proposals today.”
She continued:
“There is
no doubt that, in discussing antisocial behaviour, we have
touched a nerve in the wider population. All the evidence
demonstrates the real scale of the problem with antisocial
behaviour in Scotland. If the bill is passed, it will
provide us with a range of measures – from the antisocial
behaviour strategies to the range of orders that will be
available – that can and should make a significant impact on
communities in Scotland.”
The Antisocial
Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Bill gives police new powers to
disperse gangs hanging about in trouble hotspots. It also
provides for the extension of Antisocial Behaviour Orders to
cover under 16s, the introduction of electronic curfews and
Community Reparation Orders. There are also measures to
tackle fly-tipping, littering and noise nuisance.
MSPs voted by 103
to 11 in favour of the Bill. The only West of Scotland MSP
to vote against the measures was Frances Curran (SSP).
ENDS
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