The acts of violence carried out on emergency workers on Bonfire Night were shameful. November 5 is supposed to be a time when families can enjoy themselves watching fireworks displays. The reality is the night was marred by senseless acts of thuggery perpetrated by yobs. Bricks, fireworks and petrol bombs were hurled at police and firefighters by hooligans who held scaffolding poles and baseball bats.
Two officers had to be taken to hospital after their car windows were smashed. One needed stitches while the other received treatment for glass in their eye. A police vehicle was struck by a Molotov cocktail in another incident, while, in Clydebank, firefighters were attacked by youths using fireworks at an illegal bonfire.
Law-abiding residents were urged to stay inside as police closed Niddrie Mains Road in Edinburgh, which had descended into lawlessness. Little wonder Scottish Fire and Rescue Service assistant chief officer David Farries said the attacks were “completely unacceptable”.
This appalling behaviour seems to happen every year, but is never stamped out. One MSP noted Holyrood had recently heard evidence that existing laws are not being used effectively to deal with these firework attacks. No meaningful deterrent means thugs will continue to attack the heroes paid to keep us safe.
Firefighters and police deserve their attackers to face the full force of the law for these appalling crimes. Steps must be taken to ensure that the mayhem witnessed on Saturday never happens again.
End claim anxiety
The decision to partially devolve the benefits system after the independence referendum was the right call. And the decisions made on social security, such as creating the Scottish Child Payment, have largely been progressive.
But the new devolved benefits agency has not got everything right – far from it. We revealed recently that IT costs for setting up new systems had soared to worryingly high levels.
Our story today shows that hundreds of benefit claimants have had valid applications initially turned down. Carers, disabled children and low-income parents had their appeals upheld, but this still created unnecessary anxiety.
Serious questions must be asked on why these applications were knocked back in the first place. Dignity must be at the heart of any social security system and rejecting perfectly good claims erodes public confidence.
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