Scotland needs Champions

As reported elsewhere, we launched our election campaign this morning in Edinburgh.

I spent today campaigning in Glasgow East, both canvassing and leafleting, and received an interesting response on the doorsteps. There's a genuine warmth for John, even among those people who aren't SNP supporters. People recognise the work he does, and appreciate the regular newsletters they receive. John is a natural champion for the area - hardworking, tireless, patient and kind.

What I also heard on the doorstep was a disaffection for politicians, borne of the expenses scandal. They see Labour and the Tories as just being the same, and some people have now become so disillusioned that they don't think they'll vote this time.

The Westminster politicians who abused our trust have done what seems like irreparable damage to the fabric of our democracy. I wish I could get a hold of them, these duck-pond owning, first-class travelling, hospitality abusing, money grabbing fools; I don't think they have any comprehension of what they have done.

Their selfish actions have also had a knock-on effect those who do work hard, who do their best and see their job as being a servant of the people. It's not right that the diligent get lumped in with the dilettantes.

I hope that, as the election draws closer, we're able to get that message across. It's difficult, especially in a Westminster election with the usual built-in media skew, but I hope, with every door I knock and every leaflet I deliver, I can remind people of the good work being done by our local champions. They set the standard for all our other candidates; it's about representation, being there for your constituents, and standing up for a better deal for Scotland.



I thought it might be of interest to those who missed it to publish Alex's speech. The capitals are original for emphasis - I'm sure everyone who has ever heard the First Minister speak will hear it quite clearly in their own heads!



At this election, more than ever before, Scotland needs champions.

And so on polling day, we are not just choosing MPs in the House of Commons. We are choosing national champions to stand up for the people of Scotland.

National champions and LOCAL champions, who will offer communities across our nation the voices that they need.

Have no doubt the outcome of this election is in the hands of the people.

The people will decide whether Scotland is the winner.

And the London parties would do well to remember that.

Any party that takes the people for granted – any party that says Scotland's votes are irrelevant will pay a heavy price on polling day.

Labour, Tory or Liberal - they have come together to try to cut Scotland and the SNP out of the election debates. Just as they are trying to carve Scotland out of this election.

The pundits and London politicians think they know what is going to happen on polling day.

They say it is all about Gordon or David, Labour or Tory, tweedledum or tweedledee.

But they are wrong.

These are the people’s elections and what will matter are the people’s votes.

And the seats we are fighting, the constituencies we look to represent. These are not Labour seats, or Liberal seats or even SNP seats. They are not the possession of any one party.

THEY ARE THE PEOPLE’S SEATS.

AND IT IS THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY WHO WILL DECIDE.

I remember last year how the pundits were so certain who was going to top the Christmas charts. All bets were off. The X-factor had it sewn up.

The system, the slick PR, the prime time TV shows, would make sure of it.

But then the people decided they would have their say. They would decide.

They raged against the machine.

They voted - and they won.

There is much to make us rage with politics today.

Westminster expenses, greedy bankers, an illegal war, the deepest recession since the 30s.

And the obscene decision to waste £100,000 million on new nuclear missiles while public services are under real threat from the consequences of recession.

That alone, that one choice, tells us everything we need to know about the today’s Labour Party.

THEY HAVE LOST THEIR WAY, FORGOTTEN THEIR ROOTS.

THEIR PRIORITIES ARE NO LONGER THE PRIORITIES OF THE PEOPLE

There is rage at the metropolitan political consensus. A consensus of cuts that has left the ordinary people of this country out in the cold.

Decisions taken in London that impact hard on families and communities.

This is the Westminster machine and people are raging.

Against a system that favours the few and ignores the many.

Against a way of politics that leaves the people on the outside.

I SAY TO THE LONDON PARTIES – THERE IS NOT GOING TO BE BUSINESS AS USUAL.

AT THIS ELECTION THE PEOPLE OF SCOTLAND WILL BE HEARD.

AND THEY WON’T VOTE FOR JUST POLITICIANS. THEY WILL ELECT LOCAL CHAMPIONS.

Around our shores, in our universities, colleges, in our successful growth companies, there is so much potential.

Across our country talent we can build on, energy, determination we can unleash.

There is too much at stake, too promising a future, to let the wrong decisions, the wrong priorities stand in the way.

WE MUST NOT LET OTHERS HOLD SCOTLAND BACK.

So have no doubt, Scotland needs champions.

National champions and local champions.

We meet here today in Edinburgh East a seat the SNP is working hard to win. And you heard earlier from George Kerevan. Someone who has what it takes to be a local champion.

And you saw SNP candidates from across the country – from Dundee, Glasgow, Inverness, Aberdeen, Moray, Ochil and Perthshire. SNP candidates talking about the local issues they care about.

Setting out how they can make a difference for the communities they come from, the communities they are working hard for, the communities they represent.

That is what is important today and for this next parliament.

At this election we can elect a team of MPs who will champion the causes that matter.

Working hard for the people they represent not only when elections are looming, but every day and every week. SNP members in parliament and in our council chambers.

People’s politicians. Local champions.

Scotland needs more of them.

We are told that the Parliament might be balanced with no majority. Good. If so then let us balance it in Scottish hands.

We are told that the UK debt is now a crippling 1 trillion pounds. But Scottish north sea oil and gas reserves are worth a trillion pounds and yesterday just yesterday it was revealed that the Norwegian oil fund has increased by $100 billion dollars in a single year.

Some people say that the lights could go out in the UK through energy shortages. But offshore Scottish renewables could produce 10 times our own electricity requirements.

The London parties say that Scotland shouldn’t get the chance to vote on our own independent future. Apparently they already know the result. Well why don’t we let the people speak.

Because the threat to Scotland is real and pressing. Recovery is fragile. We all know the pressures people are facing.

And yet, at a time when government should be doing all it can to help, the London parties – Labour, Tory, Liberal – have the axe sharpened and poised.

That is the biggest current challenge facing us as a nation – as a national community. A challenge that is about more than budget lines. Because the London axe is poised not just on Scotland's budget, but on Scottish jobs.

On lifeline services.

On our health service, schools and police.

Poised on these things that really matter in our lives and for our communities at a time when £100 billion - £100,000 million - will be spent on new nuclear bombs.

Whether it is Gordon Brown or David Cameron sitting in No. 10, the next London government is ready to unleash a sustained attack on Scotland and our public services.

Tory or Labour the prospect is just the same and it is depressing, dismal and desperate.

They plan immediate cuts. New cuts this year. Early cuts, deep cuts even cuts targeted on Scotland.

Further cuts in the year ahead that Scotland's councils have warned could be 'catastrophic' for the services communities rely on.

The shared agenda of the London parties is a threat not only to our economic recovery, but to so much that makes Scotland what it is today.

To the social democratic ethos that means we as a community know the value of looking out for each other; the value of investing in education, in housing and in health.

WEALTH CREATED, WEALTH INVESTED AND WEALTH SHARED.

The London parties talk about cuts as though it was all about numbers on a balance sheet. But we know different. Behind those cuts will be real people, real services, real jobs.

At this election, the choice is clear. We must do all we can to protect those people, those services and those jobs.

Thus Scotland needs champions. Now more than ever.

SNP MPs who will be at Westminster with a clear purpose – as national and local champions. Working to win the best deal for our nation.

Giving the people in communities across Scotland the strongest voice.

The more SNP MPs elected the stronger Scotland's position will be.

Because at this election the message is simple.

MORE NATS MEANS LESS CUTS.

At this election people across Scotland have the opportunity to do more than just vote for a politician.

THEY CAN ELECT A CHAMPION – A LOCAL CHAMPION, A NATIONAL CHAMPION

Today we launch an election theme.

BUT IT IS MORE THAN THAT. IT IS A CALL TO ACTION.

A chance to take that London script, Rip it up and create something better, something bolder.

THE LONDON PARTIES ARE ENGAGED IN A PHONEY WAR. THE REAL FIGHT, THE REAL FIGHT IS FOR SCOTLAND.

Glasgow Labour drop the ball

After being caught with their fingers in the till, Glasgow Labour appear to have been in plotting overdrive over the past few days. The Evening Times announces that there will be a reshuffle, with Jonathan Findlay making a hasty exit from the very challenging Education brief to head up SPT.

According to his declaration of interests, Jonathan's a qualified Lawyer, currently employed part time at East Dunbartonshire Council. In other deck-chair shifting, Councillor Paul Rooney will switch from Convener of the Strathclyde Police Board to take over Education (sure there's some transferable skills there...) and Councillor Stephen Curran will replace Rooney at Police. It's unclear whether that means he gives up the very controversial cuts (sorry, I meant Service Reform) portfolio, which I would have thought would require his full attention given the number of staff involved. It's a lot of change in some very high-profile portfolios.

*UPDATE* The Sunday Times, in a rather excellent and detailed double-page spread, mention that Councillor Findlay was also at the Rangers - Zenit UEFA Cup Final on corporate hospitality.

How can he possibly be sent in to clean up SPT when he's part of the same football/hospitality merry-go-round? What is it with Labour Councillors and football anyway? Can't they buy their own tickets like the rest of us?

Labour Chair of SPT forced to quit

News emerges today that Labour Councillor Alistair Watson, Chair of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, is to quit the role following several weeks of expenses stories in the Sunday Times. These allegations have resulted in my colleague Cllr Hendry referring SPT to Audit Scotland.

The Times quotes a Labour source:

“What’s been coming out in recent weeks about SPT’s expenses has been damaging and it’s beginning to damage the council. There’s a pattern of SPT spending money, not illegally or immorally, but in a way that its usefulness is not entirely clear. As chairman he should have had a better grip on it.”

I have to admit, I find Cllr Watson very helpful on transport issues on a personal level. He has a great deal of knowledge and experience in these matters, and even very recently arranged for officials to talk me through works on Dalmarnock Station. It will be difficult for any incumbent (Labour, natch, given the composition of the board) to live up to that.

Watson's attitude to expenses and 'fact finding' trips on the public pound, however, is not acceptable - the culmination of this being a highly co-incidental and spurious trip to Manchester to meet with officials to fit in with Rangers playing in the UEFA cup final. I'm not quite sure of the morality of that - but it's certainly not appropriate.

This attitude seems to permeate what SPT does, with trips justifying wild plans and unrealistic ideas which are regularly sooked up by a supine and impressionable local media. SPT needs to stick to fixing the basics - keeping the subway running and protecting vital local services.

Labour candidate in attack on Michael Martin?

While waiting for news of whether the writ will be moved today, I thought I'd take a look at Labour's campaign website for Glasgow North East. I'm not particularly impressed, but this nugget stood out...

"I think too many politicians have lost touch with ordinary people. I promise that if you send me to Westminster, I will never claim lavish expenses and I will never milk the system."

I wonder who Labour's Willie Bain might be referring to? Not former Speaker of the House of Commons, Michael Martin, surely?

You could not have picked an MP further away from the people of Glasgow North East than Michael Martin, or one who milked the system more. This is a man who hired a limo to take him on a visit to the Job Centre for goodness sake. It's not quite spitting on the poor, but it's close... and it's no wonder people have lost faith in politicians.

Speaker Martin claimed for luxury items like chauffeur driven limo's to Celtic Park. He used air miles gained at the taxpayer's expense to send his family on trips. He claimed for a constituency office which is in his own house (designated as his second home, naturally) and not actually in his constituency. He has pocketed £44,753 in allowances for his Glasgow (second) home since 2004, which is not far off buying you a flat in Springburn. Talk about out of touch.

Michael Martin will now go off to snooze in ermine robes for the rest of his days. His home in Glasgow has been refurbished at the taxpayer's expense, but to add insult to injury, he will continue to take money from the pockets of his former constituents. There aren't many people in Glasgow North East (or anywhere, really) who have a taxpayer-funded, index-linked, inflation-adjusted pension, worth in the region of £1.4 million, consisting of half his MP’s salary and half his Speaker’s salary.

The people of Glasgow North East should not let Labour off the hook by ignoring this kind of behaviour. Labour have wiped their feet on the people of Glasgow for generations, and it's high time to kick them out. Only the SNP will stand up for the people of Glasgow North East; it's time for a fresh start.

Payback time?

I'm absolutely astounded at the news that MPs have paid back nearly half a million pounds, for expenses they shouldn't have claimed. That's even MPs, that's 182 of them.

According to the BBC:

The figures published by the Commons Members Estimate Committee on Thursday also reveal that Barbara Follett - the tourism minister - has repaid £32,976.

It is one of the largest single sums repaid by any MP - the largest is £41,709 by care services minister Phil Hope, who had already publicised the fact he was repaying it in the light of constituents' anger.

Ms Follett, married to best selling author Ken Follett, had defended claiming £25, 411 for security patrols at her London home after she was mugged, saying it was within the rules.

The figures also show for the first time, that cabinet minister Douglas Alexander has repaid more than £12,000.

My own expenses in the Council for last year totalled £1,058.50. I have just enough money in the bank to pay that back if I had to. I can't get my head around people signing over cheques for thousands of pounds as if they were paying for their weekly messages. Is this what real, grown ups can do in their life? Or is it just certain MPs who have been creaming off money from the state for all these years?

My expenses in the Council were for telephone bills - £310.58 for the year - and an annual zonecard - £748.00. I was given the option of a zonecard or a parking space in the City Chambers. I don't think it's fair that while other workers have to pay a premium for city centre parking, we get it for nothing. I also haven't claimed for mileage or taxis.

So you can get a bit of a comparison, I've listed my expenses alongside my ward colleagues.

NAME	Simpson, Ruth*	Redmond, George**	Thewliss, Alison
SALARY	£28,131.02	£28,626.83	£15,797.52
TRAVEL	£2,909.30	£645.83	£748.00
SUBSISTENCE	£1,252.86	£0.00	£0.00
TELEPHONE & ICT	£505.91	£514.88	£310.58
OTHER	£13.00	£0.00	£0.00
TOTAL EXPENSES	£4,681.07	£1,160.71	£1,058.58
TOTAL	£32,812.09	£29,787.54	£16,856.10

*Executive Member for Land & Environment/Councillor (wef March 2009)
**Planning Committee Convenor/Executive Member for Health & Wellbeing (wef March 2009)

PS - sorry, no idea why that's jumped down the page. Thought I was doing well Html-ing myself a table!

How some MPs live

I've been out delivering leaflets in the past week or two, and have been mulling over a comment one of my constituents made. It's been bothering me.

I'd put a leaflet through a door, and moved on to the next house in the street. A guy came out of the house, scrunched up the leaflet and, for dramatic effect, put it in the bin.

He said "when youse live like us, then you can come back and speak to us".

I didn't take the bait to go back and argue with him, because he clearly hadn't bothered to read the leaflet. The front of the leaflet was an update from John Mason. The back was a wee bit from me. John's side features a FAQ section, letting people know some details of his life as an MP. It mentions his home address, a flat in Sandaig Road Barlanark. Pretty modest. Certainly not a £350,000 house on the south side.

John gives an honest account of what Westminster requires of him - four days in London, three in Glasgow. I know this is odd to him, being so used to daily life in his ward. He's doing his utmost to be there for his constituents despite this, employing staff in the constituency, opening a highly visible shop on Shettleston Road, holding regular surgeries, visiting local groups. When Parliament's in recess, he's out leafleting and getting seen around the constituency. He works incredibly hard.

It upsets me that people think all politicians are the same, that we all have our noses in the trough. It's clear that the continual expenses scandals from London don't help combat this. It's a real shame that the badly behaved few manage to smear the rest of the hard working public representatives in this country.

I'm sure I've probably said it on here before, but I favour a move to the Scottish Parliament's open, accountable system, where all expenses are available for everyone to see. The Council isn't open enough either, and I'd like that to change. The register of interests isn't enough. Something like this would be a start.

PS - I realised I mentioned John's home but not mine - for info, I live in a flat on Roebank Street, between Ally Parade and the M8. It's small, comfy, and conveniently placed.