Scotland the home of the Paedophile
Scotland the home of the Paedophile

MSP Ash Regan was blunt in her questioning of the Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise earlier this week, when she asked “minister, are the children of Scotland safe?”

Regan had tabled an urgent parliamentary question in the wake of the sentencing of the Glasgow rape gang who, over seven years, had inflicted unspeakable sexual abuse on three children under the age of 13. One of the children was raped by the gang when she was young enough to be still wearing nappies.

Police Scotland’s investigation started in 2020, but the children had been added to Glasgow City Council’s child protection register two years previously in July 2018. It was only because a man who had come to know the children through his work and church blew the whistle that the authorities started to investigate. Minister, are the children of Scotland safe?

Days before Regan’s question, the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI) heard from retired social worker Paula McKinnon about the failure of Edinburgh City Council to protect vulnerable children in its care. Following a whistleblowing complaint about the city’s secure units, Howdenhall and St Katharine’s, she said that she had identified 30 cases of abuse between 2008 and 2019.

She told the inquiry that senior managers in the council’s children’s and families department had “turned a blind eye” when concerns were first raised, and that even now she does not have confidence that young people currently being looked after by the council are safe, nurtured and protected. Minister, are the children of Scotland safe?

And as I wrote a few weeks ago, after the scandal of England’s rape gangs hit the headlines, the Scottish Government and the plethora of national and local agencies responsible for child protection have no idea of the scale of child sexual abuse and exploitation in Scotland. The Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection stated recently that accurate figures are “difficult to establish and vary across countries and within research studies”.

Minster, are the children of Scotland safe? The only honest answer that Natalie Don-Innes, the aforesaid Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise, could have given Ash Regan would have been something like: “I hope so, but I really don’t know how many of them, and I can’t be 100 per cent certain the current system offers enough protection to children at risk.”

Instead, after a series of questions from Regan and several other MSPs, she said she was “more than happy” to look into what urgent action could be taken, over and above the work of the new national child sexual abuse and exploitation strategic group that was set up last October.

She added that “we want the group to be able to act in a way that is informed by the experience and expertise of practitioners”. The professionals who, it could be argued, failed the victims of Glasgow’s rape gangs, failed the victims of abuse in Edinburgh’s secure units, and failed many of the survivors who have given evidence to the historic child abuse inquiry over the last decade.

One group of campaigners, which includes former senior social worker Christine Scott, teacher Neil McLennan and ex-councillors Bill Cook and Alison Dickie, has been calling for, among other things, a dedicated national whistleblowing officer for education and children’s services so that concerns about possible child abuse can be dealt with quickly, and in confidence.

On Tuesday, the Scottish Parliament’s Petitions committee will – once again – consider the group’s petition, which was first submitted in 2022. Alison Dickie, who was a senior member of the SNP group on Edinburgh City Council and deputy convener of education, children and families until she resigned in protest at the council’s handling of abuse-related allegations, says independent investigations of all mishandled abuse allegations and a whistleblowing office is essential to safeguard children and young people.

“There is a power imbalance between an institution and a victim or whistleblower. A more direct and independent office would allow individuals to voice their concerns without fear of retribution, and avoid the risk of being ignored or dismissed, as has happened all too often in the past,” she said. “Even when I was a senior councillor trying to raise concerns about alleged institutional abuse, I was told ‘stand back’, ‘it’s too big’, ‘we always knew there was something wrong but you’ll get nowhere’ and even ‘watch yourself, it’s dangerous.’”

There will be those who argue that there is no need for another layer of safeguarding bureaucracy, but the current system clearly is not working. The General Teaching Council for Scotland, which is responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct against teachers, was recently forced to hire external reviewers to examine how it handles complaints amid a growing backlog of cases.

And the Scottish Government’s much-vaunted initiative, The Promise, which was set up to “support people and organisations” to “foster change” in the care system, has been criticised for being nothing more than expensive window dressing. An investigation by the Ferret last year revealed almost a third of its £6 million budget had been spent on PR firms, consultants and “plush central Edinburgh offices”.

Last July, Natalie Don-Innes lauded the incorporation into Scots law of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which insists governments have a clear obligation to provide a thorough, robust and independent whistleblowing process.

At the time, the minister said that the UNCRC helps “make Scotland the best place in the world to grow up”. Except minister, for far too many of our children, Scotland is not the safe haven you boast of, but a living nightmare.


If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 101 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.