HC Deb 22 May 1968 vol 765 cc527-8
28. Mr. Wright

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland why he will not recommend the appointment of a Royal Commission to investigate the causes of violence in Scotland.

Mr. Buchan

My right hon. Friend does not think that the appointment of a Royal Commission would make a worthwhile contribution to tackling this problem.

Mr. Wright

Will the hon. Gentleman bring to the attention of the Secretary of State the fact that violence in Scotland is now a matter of national concern? The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Glasgow has voiced it, and the Observer voiced it last week-end. Will the right hon. Gentleman take advantage of the interest in this subject, apart from the fact that Glasgow is a crime laboratory of the two universities, and reconsider the decision?

Mr. Buchan

I think the hon. Member has benefited from the discussion we had privately last week. If he is concerned with research, he knows that we are paying a great deal of attention to that and certain helpful moves are going on in this direction. We are using research advice which has come from Glasgow and other areas.

Mr. Woodburn

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that there seems to be too much concentration on punishment after the trouble has come? Is he not aware that there is a great advantage if someone can find what is causing all this and see whether education, the Church or other bodies can help to eradicate the trouble before it starts?

Mr. Buchan

I agree very much with what my right hon. Friend has said. This has been the main burden of the many discussions I have had over several months and of a number of suggestions I have put forward. I was interested to see that the senior magistrate in Glasgow is pursuing the same lines of research into understanding the causes and taking social measures to deal with the problem.

Mr. Wylie

Would the hon. Gentleman agree in view of the terrible complexity of the matter that an inquiry by a Royal Commission, such as is suggested by my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Pollok (Mr. Wright), may be a very appropriate way of investigating the underlying nature of the problem?

Mr. Buchan

I do not think it would be. I am concerned with this as an urgent as well as a long-term problem and Royal Commissions have never been notorious for speed. The number and variety of people involved require a different solution, certainly not that of a Royal Commission.