It's payback time

Calton is not convinced that more college places is the answer to our youth unemployment problem. Let's face it - we've tried it, with a huge increase in the number of young people going on to higher education in the last 20 years, and we still have a problem. What we really need is a return to good, old-fashioned apprenticeships, where school leavers learn a trade, and the discipline of working, while earning at the same time. Ploughing money into supporting businesses to provide such places would be worthwhile and Gavin Brown's idea of raising it by introducing a graduate tax is worth considering. If you have received free higher education and are now earning a good salary as a result, why shouldn't you pay a little back? Calton also thinks that free bus passes should only be handed out to those who have reached state pension age - it's a nonsense giving them to 60 year-olds who are still working. However, Calton parts company with Tory MSP Brown on limiting free prescriptions, as regular readers of this blog will know well.