Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): I cannot help but be cynical about the Executive's motivation behind the debate.
As I am sure the chamber recognises, the debate has the stamp of Mrs Thatcher all over it. It has the stamp of someone who believed that there was no such thing as communities or society.

Carolyn Leckie (Central Scotland) (SSP): Is the member aware of the qualitative research conducted by Barnardo's, which shows that some of the young people to whom she is referring are the most vulnerable victims in society? Will she confirm that the "plague" mentioned in yesterday's Executive press release was a reference to those people? Does she agree that that is an offensive word to use in relation to young people or to our communities? Does she also agree that it is as offensive as some of the references to people with mental health problems that have been made this week in the chamber?

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): We must ask why young people feel disillusioned and disjointed from the rest of society.
Many young people have no one to talk to. They come out of homes where there is so much deprivation. If people struggling on casual jobs are told at short notice that they have to work the night shift, who will do the homework with the children? Those are real issues in our communities. The Scottish Socialist Party is not out of touch; we are well aware of the issues in our communities.