Paisley Daily Express - 21 May 2012

Children’s Hospice

In Renfrewshire we are blessed with Accord and St Vincent’s, two fantastic hospices which provide a caring and essential service to those who are terminally ill. Last week in the Scottish Parliament I put my support behind a motion supporting the work of the Children’s Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS). CHAS is a charity that provides the only hospice service in Scotland for children and young people who have life shortening conditions for which there is no known cure. CHAS runs two hospices in Scotland, one in Kinross, and one in Balloch. CHAS also provides a home care service. Every year CHAS supports over 250 families with children who require palliative care. As well as its highly skilled and dedicated staff, CHAS like other hospices, relies on the support of volunteers and the wider community. CHAS volunteers donated over 78,500 hours in 2010-11, a truly remarkable commitment. It is heart breaking for any family to watch a child die. CHAS makes a remarkable contribution in helping children and families at a distressing time. Thank you to the staff, volunteers and supporters who make this all possible.

Neilston Scout Hall

Scouts Scotland have achieved a growth in numbers for the sixth consecutive year. Indeed Scout numbers in Scotland has outpaced the rest of the UK for the third consecutive year. The Scouts are no longer a boys only organisation and now one in seven of the 41,261 youth members are girls. The Scouts provide enjoyable and exciting opportunities for young people locally, nationally and internationally. Many employers take a positive view of scouting experience when considering job applications. Participation in scouting helps to build confidence, responsibility and leadership. In Neilston, local Scouts have had to do without a Scout Hall for many years, after vandals burned down the old building. I was recently delighted to attend the opening of the new Scout Hall in the village. It has been a long hard slog for the local committee to raise the substantial funds to build the new hall. Not only have they done this, but they have built a magnificent hall which will be a real asset to local Scouts and to Neilston. Congratulations to everyone concerned.

REMPLOY

REMPLOY provides employment and training opportunities for disabled people. In the current economic climate, it is hard for anyone who is unemployed to find a job. For disabled people the problems are even greater. It’s at times like this that we need organisations like REMPLOY. It’s cruel that the Tory/Lib Dem coalition has decided to cut back on support for REMPLOY. Even worse are the cruel and uncaring comments from the Tory Minister, Iain Duncan Smith, that REMPLOY staff should “get a proper job”. It might be easy for well off Tories to find a “proper job”. For REMPLOY staff the prospects are pretty bleak. Same old uncaring Tories, this time helped by unprincipled Liberal Democrats.

Granny Tax

The Tories and the Liberal Democrats have decided to give tax cuts to the super-rich. 18,000 top tax payer will receive a tax cut worth £10,000 per year. Unfortunately someone has to pay for this tax cut for those who don’t need it. The Tories and the Lib Dems have decided that pensioners will pay for this unfair tax cut. New information obtained by the Labour Party shows that in Scotland, 420,000 pensioners will face average tax hikes of　£83 per year by 2015-2016. This is 60,000 more than George Osborne admitted to at the time of the budget. Pensioners who have　 worked hard all their lives for a modest works pension will be outraged at this tax grab to help the rich.　 Why should decent hard working people have to pay for a tax cut for top earners?

Network Computer Services

Congratulations to Network Computer Services in receiving £6,900 from the Big Lottery Fund. Computer services support can be a real problem for small organisations, particularly charities and voluntary organisations. They often don’t have the money or expertise to access the latest computer technology which can make a real difference. Eddie Hart and his team at Network Computer Services are there to help provide this expertise and the lottery grant will help to develop and expand services. If you think your organisation could benefit from their advice, give them a call on 0141 876 9535. The Tories and the Liberal Democrats have decided to give tax cuts to the super-rich. 18,000 top tax payer will receive a tax cut worth £10,000 per year. Unfortunately someone has to pay for this tax cut for those who don’t need it. The Tories and the Lib Dems have decided that pensioners will pay for this unfair tax cut. New information obtained by the Labour Party shows that in Scotland, 420,000 pensioners will face average tax hikes of £83 per year by 2015-2016. This is 60,000 more than George Osborne admitted to at the time of the budget. Pensioners who have worked hard all their lives for a modest works pension will be outraged at this tax grab to help the rich. Why should decent hard working people have to pay for a tax cut for top earners?

Paisley Daily Express - 7 May 2012

Media Influence

The media plays an important and powerful role in our society. It’s right that we have a free press which is not dictated to by Government or politicians. But equally the press has to behave in a responsible and indeed legal way. The stories of phone hacking by Rupert Murdoch’s News International are shocking and sickening. If others have done this, they need to be exposed. It’s time for politicians of all parties to stand together to say that what happened at News International is just not acceptable. The report last week from a House of Commons Committee presents a damning indictment of Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and their senior executives. It also now transpires that Alex Salmond was a cheerleader for Rupert Murdoch taking full control of BskyB. Even now, despite all the revelations, our First Minister, refuses to say that Rupert Murdoch should not be allowed to control BskyB.


This is not just about politicians. The Levenson Inquiry has shown that thousands of people from all walks of life have had unacceptable intrusion of their privacy. Even after all the disgusting stories about the hacking of the phone of Milly Dowler, Alex Salmond invited Rupert Murdoch for tea. Alex Salmond is demeaning Scotland by continuing to cosy up to Rupert Murdoch, Surely it’s time to do the right thing?

Cystic Fibrosis

Last week the Cystic Fibrosis Trust was in the Scottish Parliament to highlight their campaign to raise awareness. They also want better care and support for people with the condition. Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic condition affecting primarily the lungs and the pancreas. Those with the condition find it difficult to breathe and digest food. On a day to day basis individuals have to perform physiotherapy and take many tablets, to combat infection and digest food. Tragically for those with this condition, the median life expectancy is only 41.

The Cystic Fibrosis Trust does a fantastic job campaigning for and supporting those with the condition. If you need any information about the work of the trust, go to www.cftrust.org.uk

Police and Fire Reform

We currently have eight Police Forces and eight Fire Services across Scotland. There is one Police Force for Strathclyde which covers nearly half of Scotland, and seven for the rest of the country. The same applies to Fire Services. We have far too many organisations for a small country the size of Scotland.


I welcome the proposals to reduce the number of Police Boards and Fire Services. I believe it is still possible to build in local accountability. I do however have concerns about the way the Scottish Government is handling this. The way Scottish Ministers propose to set up the new bodies will mean that VAT exemption will be lost. This will result in Scottish taxpayers having to fund an extra £36 million in VAT, leading to cuts in services.

Ministers were warned this would happen yet they have still pushed ahead. There is an option to avoid this, which would mean less Ministerial influence and even better local accountability. It’s wrong to cut budgets and services just to give the Scottish Government more influence. This is yet another example of Alex Salmond centralising control in Edinburgh.

University Fees Dodge

European students receive free University tuition in Scotland, while students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland have to pay. The Scottish Government promised a solution to this problem, but so far has failed to deliver. Now we hear that students from Northern Ireland can qualify for free University tuition if they apply for an Irish passport, as they are entitled to do. It’s already costing us over £75 million per year to provide free University education for European students. Now this cost is likely to rise. Alex Salmond’s Ministers have cut funding to Colleges like Reid Kerr to pay for this. It’s time they kept their promise to sort this out.

Organ Donation

We recently heard the good news that the number of people on the Organ Donor Register in Scotland is now over two million – a record high. At the same time more than 600 people in Scotland are still waiting for life saving transplants. Signing up to the register takes a couple of minutes, but it could mean the difference between life and death for those waiting for a transplant. If you want to know more, go to www.organdonationscotland.org