By Steve Bargeton, political editor

MINISTERS HAVE been urged to back a Scots bravery medal for citizens who undertake supreme acts of courage.

SNP MSP Christine Grahame has tabled a motion at Holyrood calling for the introduction of a St Andrews Day Medal similar to Westminster’s George Medal, introduced in 1940 for acts of extraordinary bravery carried out by civilians.

“At the moment the Scottish Government has no mechanism to formally honour and recognise acts of great bravery by its citizens,” she said.

“It is virtually the only government on the planet that does not issue medals for bravery to its own people and given we have had some recent high-profile examples of such acts of heroism, it is time we remedied the situation and properly recognised these outstanding individuals.

“While I accept the George Medal is available to people throughout the UK, it is clearly a very Anglo-centric award that takes no account of Scotland’s long and well established tradition of bravery, both in civilian life and in the role performed by Scots service personnel over the centuries.

“The British George Medal depicts Saint George of England slaying a mythical dragon, a representation that remains quintessentially English.

“There is nothing wrong with that, of course, but clearly the Scottish Government will, I am sure, be keen to commission an award that reflects Scotland’s own national character in a manner that is more fitting for those who receive the medal.”