Youth crime on the agenda

David McLetchie said order needed to be restored in classrooms

The Tories and the Liberal Democrats have been campaigning on the issues of violent pupils and young offenders.

The Conservative Party has vowed to scrap Scottish Executive targets aimed at cutting down on the number of pupils expelled from school.

Scots Tory leader David McLetchie said the policy was a failure - with teachers being assaulted by pupils on average every 15 minutes.

"Headteachers must be given full control of their schools and the ability to exclude unruly pupils without worrying about government-imposed quotas," said Mr McLetchie.

"Teachers should have the right to refuse to teach any pupil with a proven record of violent and abusive behaviour in school.

The worst parent in Scotland is the state. Forty per cent of young offenders in custody have been in care

Jim Wallace

"We need to restore order in our classrooms and give our teachers the backing they deserve."

And the Liberal Democrats attacked moves by rival parties to punish the parents of young offenders.

Labour plans to fine or even jail the parents of persistent youth offenders would only break-up families and make things worse, the Lib Dems said.

Party leader Jim Wallace said he had "considerable scepticism" over the measures suggested by Labour and the SNP, which he said could even push the crime rate up.

He said: "The worst parent in Scotland is the state. Forty per cent of young offenders in custody have been in care. That doesn't suggest that the state has had a particularly good record."

Jim Wallace: Restorative justice

He added that the Lib Dems were in favour of so-called restorative justice, where young offenders repair the damage caused to their victim.

Labour said it wanted to work with parents to tackle youth crime.

However, Cathy Jamieson, who was the minister responsible for youth crime in the last Scottish Executive, said: "We have to recognise there are some parents who have frankly condoned young people's behaviour, including offending behaviour, and that simply can't be tolerated."

Meanwhile, the Greens were launching a "food and farming" manifesto, with a call for improved support for organic production and an end to genetically modified crop trials in Scotland.

The Scottish People's Alliance outlined the party's plans to use Holyrood's tax-varying powers to cut income tax by three pence in the pound and to reduce business rates, using funds from abolishing Scottish Enterprise.