MSP knife vow

Greenock and Inverclyde MSP Duncan McNeil has vowed to keep the pressure on the Scottish Government to get tough on knife crimes.

The MSP teamed up with campaigner John Muir and Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray to petition shoppers at the Tesco store in Dalrymple Street in Greenock.

Both Mr McNeil and Mr Muir were taken aback by the response they got from the public backing calls for mandatory sentences for knife users.

The local pair intend to keep the pressure on Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to bring about mandatoy sentences for knife carriers.

He said: “The people of this community decided they would no longer tolerate the senseless violence that claimed the lives of young men like John’s son Damian Muir.

“That initial campaign achieved a great deal in terms of shifting the spotlight onto this issue and creating a knife inquiry in the Parliament but people here want to see real action.

“For that reason, this petition sends a message that we are not giving up on the need for a tough stance on knife crime.”

Campaigner John Muir, who lost his son Damian to a knife criminal, said: “This gives us a tremendous boost, again it keeps the profile in front of the newspapers, it keeps the profile in front of the public.

“We have still got work to do and we realise that. We have still got to convert a very strong and unwilling Scottish Government.”

Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray said: “Knife crime is right at the top of the agenda of what concerns ordinary shoppers.

“They don’t want to see their communities blighted and young lives lost. They want action and to know politicians are on the side of the victims."

ENDS