Address non-contact and peer-on-peer sexual offending
- 74 Signatures
Non-contact and peer-on-peer sexual offending is still too often minimised in Scotland. Early signs of harmful sexual behaviour in children, young people and adults are frequently met with little meaningful consequence. In school-age cases, parents are often not informed despite schools knowing a child has been harmed. Repeated incidents can pass without escalation, and victims are left silenced. Purely voluntary approaches allow patterns of behaviour to continue without real accountability.
The same minimisation appears in adult non-contact offences, including serious, indecent images of children. Earlier behaviour is too often overlooked until greater harm occurs, and restrictions do not always match the seriousness of the offending.
Existing frameworks have not closed these gaps. Clearer requirements for parental notification, decisive action on repeated incidents, better data, and a stronger overall stance are needed.
Strengthen youth justice thresholds
- 32 Signatures
Youth violence and gang-related offending continue to cause serious harm in Scotland. The current system’s heavy reliance on diversion through Early and Effective Intervention and the Children’s Hearings System means that young people involved in violence, knife crime and group offending are too often repeatedly diverted with limited consequences. This allows behaviour to escalate until irreversible damage is done to victims and their families.
Prevention and rehabilitation for higher-risk cases are not currently strong enough. Clearer thresholds, stronger accountability, better data, improved victims’ protections and more credible early intervention are urgently needed to protect the public and stop harm before it becomes irreparable.
My intention is not to criminalise children or move away from the principles of early intervention and rehabilitation. I want to ensure that children involved in serious, violent or escalating behaviour receive the appropriate support at the earliest possible opportunity.
Ban the release of helium balloons and sky lanterns across Scotland
- 2,156 Signatures
The release of helium balloons and sky lanterns is an act of sending litter into the sky which can land anywhere.
There have been cases of farm animals and wildlife ingesting deflated helium balloons and suffocating to death, and fires started when the flames in lanterns do not go out before landing, as well as animals becoming tangled in the frames.
While 32 councils in Scotland have banned the release of helium balloons and sky lanterns from council land, there remains an issue of enforcement, release on private land, and authority to prevent planned releases, as was the case with several planned balloon releases announced in local newspapers. Despite a ban being in place in one area, the release went ahead.
There are laws regarding littering, and penalties for doing so. The same laws must apply to the release of helium balloons and sky lanterns and a ban implemented.
Fast-track the Minimum Income Guarantee by 2029 and remove welfare time limits
- 2 Signatures
The Scottish Government’s Expert Group roadmap proposes implementation of the Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) beyond 2036. That delay is unacceptable. With rising living costs, thousands of Scots face hardship today. Dignity cannot wait a decade.
The proposed interim MIG model also includes a 12-month-in-60-months time limit for some recipients, while exempting disabled people and unpaid carers.
A genuine MIG should provide lasting economic security, not arbitrary limits for working-age adults. A guarantee that expires after 12 months in every 60 is a temporary support scheme under another name.
Under the Scotland Act 2016, the Scottish Parliament has powers to top up incomes and create new benefits. The Scottish Government should:
• fast-track MIG to 2029;
• set the baseline at the equivalent of full-time National Minimum Wage, excluding housing and disability costs; and
• ban time limits on MIG for working-age adults. We must eradicate domestic poverty to ensure true dignity for all today.
Introduce a nationwide knife amnesty
- 224 Signatures
After a tragic death on Irvine beach last summer there was another knife attack in the town. Luckily it was not fatal, however one stabbing is enough - how many more could there be! After one mass shooting in the UK, gun laws changed for the better. Knife crime needs to be taken just as seriously. Parents are afraid and youths are unsafe. I do not understand why in a country with high rates of violence, especially knife crime, it has been two decades since the last knife amnesty and why there are no safety deposit knife bins, as there are in London. Such a policy change might save the lives of some Children.
Recognise ageing as a disease and launch a National Longevity Mission
- 2 Signatures
Scotland has Western Europe's lowest life expectancy. Healthy life expectancy has collapsed to 59 years. Scots spend a quarter of life chronically sick. Ageing drives devastating conditions like dementia (£1.4bn/year cost in Scotland; £42bn UK-wide) and NHS collapse. Treating symptoms while ignoring the biological root cause is a catastrophic policy failure.
Geroscience has moved: human trials validate the use of senolytics, nanomedicine, and domain-specific ASI to arrest cellular degradation. Healthcare and research funding are fully devolved to the Scottish Parliament.
I demand that the Scottish Government:
1. Amends the Public Health Strategy to reclassify ageing as a modifiable clinical syndrome.
2. Establishes a National Longevity Mission targeting 150 healthy years by 2045 and Longevity Escape Velocity (LEV) by 2032.
3. Establishes and fund the Scottish Nanomedicine and Longevity Authority (£500m/annum) for immediate clinical trials.
Wild goats can be found in isolated units across Scotland, forming established, free-living populations with recognised cultural, ecological and local/regional economic value.
Historical evidence indicates a substantial contraction in Scotland’s wild goat population, from around 200 recorded locations in the late 19th century to approximately 45 herds today, with a total population estimated at only 4,000 animals. These figures demonstrate an alarming long-term decline of isolated wild goat populations and underline the existential risks of unregulated mass culling.
Currently, wild goats are not subject to a statutory management framework and may be shot indiscriminately, including during pregnancy and lactation while caring for dependent young.
This animal welfare gap is inconsistent with the management of wild deer in Scotland, with defined closed seasons and provisions for licensed control in specific circumstances.
This shortcoming represents a lack of transparency in decision-making.
Abolish Student Debt and Replace SAAS Maintenance Loans with Living Cost Grants
- 2 Signatures
Scotland's free tuition claim is a myth. While tuition is covered, higher education has become a predatory debt engine. SAAS forces working-class students to borrow up to £10,400 annually just to survive, while maximum non-repayable bursaries are capped at a derisory £2,000 under humiliating means-testing. Extortionate private rents and living costs inflict severe financial distress and mental trauma on young adults. Forcing the next generation to mortgage their futures for a degree while local councils and landlords exploit them is a catastrophic systemic failure. Higher education finance is 100% devolved.
I demand the Government immediately:
1. Abolish the SAAS loan framework, converting all living-cost support into non-repayable grants.
2. End parent means-testing; aid must be an unconditional individual right.
3. Raise maintenance grants to match the full National Living Wage, with dedicated accommodation cost coverage.
Stop exploiting youth; secure a debt-free future now.
Reinstate the Minister for Women’s Health
- 416 Signatures
Women make up more than half of Scotland’s population, yet too many face unacceptable barriers to healthcare. It now takes an average of over 10 years for an endometriosis diagnosis, despite the 2021 commitment to reduce this to under 12 months. Women also face long waits for gynaecological care, inequalities in cardiovascular healthcare and gaps in reproductive health services.
Scotland’s Women’s Health Plan recognised these inequalities and has made important progress, but many of its ambitions have yet to be realised. Continued ministerial leadership is essential to ensure commitments become meaningful improvements in care. Removing the role risks reducing visibility, accountability and momentum at a time when significant challenges remain.
A dedicated Minister for Women’s Health would provide clear leadership, drive delivery of Scotland’s Women’s Health Plan, ensure accountability for progress, work across government and the NHS to tackle health inequalities and ensure women’s voices are heard in decisions about healthcare.
Open the Scottish Super Sponsor Scheme for Ukrainians to new applicants
- 1,017 Signatures
Scotland issued 32,601 visas under the Ukrainian Super Sponsor Scheme, claiming moral leadership. However, the "three-month pause" of July 2022 has lasted over four years. Sponsoring utilises fully devolved powers over housing, integration, and local funding; the UK merely provides the visa framework. Leaving the scheme paused while vulnerable individuals are forced to seek private hosts on unregulated social media platforms creates severe safeguarding risks. The Scottish Parliament must compel the Government to resume its institutional sponsorship role rather than using constitutional excuses.
The petition calls on the Scottish Government to:
1. Immediately open the Super Sponsor Scheme to new applicants under the existing Homes for Ukraine framework.
2. Allocate adequate devolved funding to sustain safe welcome accommodation and long-term housing integration.
3. Establish clear, permanent operational criteria for state-sponsored refugee resettlement.
We must secure the safety of displaced families and a future for their children.