AS Scotland continues to edge timidly out of lockdown, no-one should be in any doubt, least of all our electioneering politicians, that our road to recovery will be a long, exhaustive and arduous potholed trek. But sadly for tens of thousands of our nation's young people, many whose lives have already been severely impacted by the pandemic, that journey might have already careered into a dead end.

The NTIA (Night Time Industry Association) warns that the going-out economy faces a “tsunami” of 24,000 job losses unless the Scottish Government accelerates the easing of their lockdown restrictions.

Official figures published by the Office for National Statistics showed that last year up until December, the number of jobless amongst young people in Scotland aged 16-24 had rocketed by 50% to 45,000, compared to a UK equivalent rise of 15.4%. This means 13.5% of that age group are now out of work, up from 8.3% the previous year.

A worrying trend and a point not missed by Dr Stuart McIntyre, head of research at Fraser of Allander Institute. He said: “The closure of large parts of the hospitality and retail economy sectors, where many young people find work, is clearly feeding through.”

He added that there is some way to go if the Scottish Government is to deliver on the Jobs Guarantee they made last summer to support young people affected by the economic meltdown.

There have been localised sharp rises in unemployment for the 16-24 age group across Scotland, with the Falkirk area being one of the worst affected, registering a shocking 83% increase in their young jobless total, with the hospitality sector bearing the brunt of these losses.

The consequences of the Scottish Government not accelerating the easing of lockdown, of not fully supporting and engaging with desperate sectors, including our grounded aviation industry which is spiralling into economic free fall, could mean that thousands more of Scotland’s young adults, our country’s future, will be consigned to the jobs scrap heap with only bleak years of unemployment, austerity and mental health issues to look forward to.

Unemployed, null and void, as we used to say during the Thatcher years.

That would be unforgivable especially when the warnings of an irreparable economic catastrophe and employment meltdown have been coming through thick and fast for months from a myriad of major industry sectors, trade bodies, chambers of commerce and vast array of respected business leaders, including notable people like Sir Tom Hunter, Lord Willie Haughey and Michelin star chef and restaurateur Tom Kitchin.

Warnings which have been ignored by a government, which already stands accused of not having one scintilla of business sense or ounce of compassion for those now facing ta life on the dole.

If these dire warnings weren’t worrying enough, then the fact that nearly 40,000 Scottish businesses are teetering on the edge of the financial abyss, only hanging on by their fingernails because of government grant funding and the job retention scheme, both of which are being scaled back before the end of the summer, should be.

Make no mistake, this is a perilous situation Scotland now finds itself in. A “worrying trend” that could become an avoidable and irreversible post-pandemic economic catastrophe, unless of course the FM immediately changes direction and presses the pedal to metal and steers us away from this clear and present danger.

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