Kids teach world leaders a lesson
FROM Aberdeen to Afghanistan, millions of people took to the streets for the future of our planet.
This was mass demonstration on a truly global scale.
Images of children from a dizzying number of cities, towns and villages show this is the No1 concern for young people.
In Scotland, about 15 demos took place. Incredible numbers marched through Edinburgh to Holyrood Park, home of the Scottish Parliament.
There were similar scenes in Glasgow in a packed George Square.
And there was an impressive turnout in Aberdeen, a city where the economy runs on oil.
Any suggestion this is a western obsession can be dismissed out of hand.
Young women marched through Kabul in Afghanistan, protected by armed guards.
Ordinary people – including the youngest in our societies – have made their voices well and truly heard.
But are the politicians in power listening?
There will always be obstinate world leaders such as Donald Trump and Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro. They appear immune to expert advice. But their citizens, just like in Scotland, share the same concerns about what kind of world we are leaving behind.
All over the UK, Europe and beyond, pupils took the day off school in a show of direct action.
World leaders should listen to these children – they’re skipping school to teach everyone a lesson.
SIR Billy Connolly has revealed his son has been battling addiction to drugs and alcohol.
The comic was visiting recovering drug addicts in West Virginia as part of his ITV travel series in the US, when he told how Jamie, 50, had a “problem”.
Connolly said his eldest child, from his first marriage to Iris Pressagh, had been to Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings.
Connolly, 76, who is suffering from Parkinson’s disease, also hit out at the lack of compassion shown towards those with addiction problems.
He said: “My son has a problem and he’s in AA and NA. He said when he went to the detox place, some kids were being let out and they were back on the stuff before they got to the station. It’s so powerful.
“People who don’t know say, ‘Why do they take it? Just say no. Just stop and you’ll be better’. Duh. It’s extraordinary.”
Connolly told viewers: “There are now over 1.5million Americans addicted to medical and illegal opioids. The numbers are terrifying.”