Paul Houston put his life on the line to serve his country. The 57-year-old was a private in the King’s Own Scottish Borderers for eight years. He saw active service and suffered the loss of his comrades, which will live with him for the rest of his life.
The trauma he suffered led to a descent into alcoholism that nearly killed him. Imagine how he must have felt when the medals he received for his time in the Army were stolen.
Paul told the Record the theft left him devastated. No wonder. The medals symbolised what he had gone through and, as he as says, he earned them. Adding insult to injury, heartless MoD officials refused to cover the cost of replacements.
It’s another example of how poorly our military veterans are treated after they leave the forces. Thankfully, Paul’s MSP was paying attention and stepped in to help.
Justice Secretary Keith Brown knows more than most just how much recognition people like Paul deserve. He also walked the walk, serving his country in the Falklands War in 1982.
How appropriate then that it was Brown who pinned the new medals on Paul’s chest and reiterated the Scottish Government’s commitment to replacing lost medals for ex-service personnel. Many times throughout history, people like Paul and Keith have fought to preserve our way of life.
The very least our Armed Forces veterans deserve is medals. They are owed a debt of gratitude from us all.
Lacking decency
The SNP is right to compare the Tories to Enoch Powell and Nigel Farage. Their policy to detain asylum seekers who reach the UK by sea and give them a lifetime ban is inhumane.
Those who arrive here by boat are desperate and deserve to be helped. Stephen Flynn was also right to make the point that women who have been trafficked for sex will be denied the basic human right of receiving asylum.
As he said, this is “disgraceful” and it must not become law. The Tories are dragging the UK’s good name through the dirt.
We have a proud history of helping those in need. This is shown by the fact that several of the Tory frontbenchers have parents or grandparents who came to this country as refugees. Like Farage and Powell, the current Conservative Party is blaming vulnerable asylum seekers for the state of the country and public services.
But this is just a ploy to distract from who is really holding our country back: this Tory Government.
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