Brexit, Islamic State, Snap Elections, talks of Trident, a failing NHS, Donald Trump; did you really think 2017 was going to be more simple? This year we face world of politics full of mayhem and to make sense of the chaos, Mr Johnston and his politics WAO return with the now annual LHS Question Time. The debate, chaired by former pupil Fraser Johnston, had four panelists: John Barclay (ex Police officer and head of Police Studies at Larbert High), Aiden Campbell (former MSYP and vice-captain), Angus MacDonald (MSP for Falkirk East) and Malcolm Nicol (Councillor for Falkirk).

Before the debate started Mr Johnston took centre stage to welcome everyone and explain the reasons for the debate, saying that it was the hope of the Politics WAO that ‘by running an event like Question Time, they will help to spread their enjoyment of, and passion for Politics amongst their peers and their community.’ This was symbolised by the many questions from pupils throughout the night which shaped the debate and, for the most part, made more sense than the politicians. I have also had a request at this point to say a thank you to Mr Johnston on behalf of the politics WAO for making the Question Time event happen. The group were allowed to make the debate about topics that meant something to them which gives them a unique chance not usually offered to teenagers.

Leading on to the first debate topic which was Trident, more specifically, is it worth it? John Barclay kicked off the topic by saying that even though it is not wanted in Scotland, it is a necessity to protect ourselves. He also went on to say that compared to the GDP it is not a huge amount of money, saying it is a round 0.02%. This was countered by Aiden Campbell who said that in actual fact it is not the 31 billion that the UK government say, adding on the costs of over spending, missiles and the cost to keep it running. Rounding it off by saying that is not justified, as there will never be nuclear war.

Malcolm Nicol said that he agrees with Aiden on one thing, and that is that the actual number is much higher. Although he again said that it is justified as that it is necessary in an unstable world, with a ‘mad man’ in the white house (referring to Donald Trump) and North Korea developing nuclear weapons. He went on to then attack the SNP views saying that he finds it ‘ironic’ that they want to get rid of trident in Scotland but want to join NATO which is a ‘nuclear club.’ Angus MacDonald however did make the point that the majority of Scottish MPs voted against the renewal of Trident (bearing in mind this was when all but three scottish MPs were in Nicola’s army). He also said that SNP will keep fighting for a nuclear free Scotland, which as always independence would solve.  To conclude the topic a vote showed the consensus of the audience was that Trident was not justified, however it was a long way from a strong consensus, with around 40% of the audience saying it is justified.

The next topic was Mental Health. Fraser opened it to Angus MacDonald. He admitted to the fact that there is a problem with Mental health in Scotland and there is more needed to be done. However it was implied he was referring to the Labour government’s wrongdoing prior to 2007, after which SNP took office. He went on to say that the SNP is ‘taking action’ and that there is a 10 year plan set out, so no one is at risk of Failure- an extremely vague plan at that. Malcolm Nicol then developed the topic, by saying that mental health needs to be at a ‘higher profile’ and that for many years it was ‘swept under the carpet’- referring to how for many years mental health was not seen as a serious issue. He also commented that it is not always money that will help solve the problem, it can be through making an environment where teenagers and men (which he saw as the groups less likely to share their emotions) can share their emotions and not feel trapped. To round off his argument he commented on the fact that the SNP have ‘made a good start’ with their ten year plan and he hopes this continues.

John Barclay was then invited to share his opinions, saying that through his experience being a support teacher at Larbert he believes that the school is creating a supportive environment for the pupils. However he did say that it is a difficult issue to deal with and he believes that we need to come together on sensitive issues like this. Aiden Campbell then said that to tackle this issues we need to train teachers on how to be comfortable talking about mental health. He also said that more investment has to be made by the Scottish Government.

The final topic was Brexit, and more specifically if there should be a second referendum. Malcolm Nicol said that there should not be a second referendum. He believes that voters had a chance to say and that the UK wanted to leave the EU. However he said that there will be a vote in the House of Commons when the negotiations have been finalised. John Barclay mirrored these comments, again saying we had a referendum and we should respect the outcome. Also adding that he feels Brexit will not be the disaster everyone thinks it is going to be and we should get behind the negotiations.

Aiden Campbell was then given a chance to state his argument. He said that he believes a second referendum would be favourable to the Scottish population however he thinks is unlikely to happen, also commenting that a second referendum would just to lead to ‘more lies and more deception’ by the political world. Angus McDonald when asked to talk about the subject developed the issue. He began to talk about the laws which will be handed back to Britain’s jurisdiction. For example certain fishing and justice legislation- he then said that he feels it’s a ‘damn disgrace’ that the UK government is planning on first keeping it in Britain’s hands for an initial period. Malcolm Nicol countered this by saying that he feels it would be a good move rather than handing it directly to Scotland, as he believes that it would be a mess if it was handed directly to devolved parliaments. Their argument never led to a resolution. Angus finished his point by reinforcing his belief that there should not be a second referendum.

The debate was then brought to a close by Fraser. Closing statements were made by a pupil from the Politics WAO thanking everyone for coming. Overall, it seemed to achieve the goal of getting pupils interested in politics, with pupils from the audience being enthused and at some points actively excited by the debate.

 

by DAVID STAINBANK