Ravenscraig

As regular readers will know, my family are from Lanarkshire. My Gran and Papa Thewliss live in Motherwell, my Gran White in Wishaw.

Growing up, I saw the decline of these towns from busy, bustling hubs, to ghost towns.

The single biggest contributory factor to this was the closure of Ravenscraig Steel Works at the start of the 1990s. According to the Evening Times, Labour are launching their Scottish campaign from the site of the steel works today.

Jim Murphy is to visit the former Ravenscraig site in Motherwell alongside Labour’s leader in Holyrood, Iain Gray.

In a visit to the new Motherwell College building on the site, the Scottish Secretary will say it symbolises the difference between Labour and Tory policies to the area.

He will say: “The difference between Labour and the Tories’ approach to Scotland is symbolised here in Ravenscraig.

“The Tories left people to fend for themselves as the area was abandoned to decline.

“Labour invested in this area, built the new college and is still rebuilding in Ravenscraig.

“Labour’s plans will rebuild Scotland’s economy and renew Scotland’s public services and political landscape.”

The new College building at Ravenscraig is impressive (and construction work started under the SNP Government); other than that, there's precious little to show on the site for 13 years of Labour in Westminster, 8 years of Labour in Holyrood, and generations of Labour control in Lanarkshire local government.

Furthermore, plans for a shopping hub has drawn criticism from other shopping centres in the area. Since nearby Wishaw was described by it's Labour MSP as a 'pigsty', I'm fairly sure that local residents might prefer money (such as the town centre regeneration fund) to be invested in their areas first, before something shiny and new draws even more people away from their local shops.

My grandparents have fewer and fewer quality local shops to get their messages - my Gran White can't buy things like fresh fish or wool in Wishaw any more, yet there are plenty of bookies and off-sales.

I can see what Labour are trying to do with the whole harking back to the Tories line - but there's responsibility to be taken there too. Labour MPs in the '80s and '90s failed to stop the closure, and their inaction over the years has done little to repair the damage inflicted on Lanarkshire.

Labour need to think more carefully before they fall back on simply blaming the Tories for the woes of our communities.

Goodbye to a legend

I'm sure I'm not the only blogger who has been saddened by the death of Motherwell Captain Phil O'Donnell; however, I thought I should wait 'til today to commit my thoughts to the internet. I was down at Joe's parents in Derby when I heard the news. I was all chuffed about what sounded like a thrilling game 5-3 win against Dundee United at Fir Park, and had been watching the result come in on the tv. My brother texted me from the game to say Phil had collapsed, then phoned when the news of his death emerged.

People who know me know I'm a Motherwell fan. I was at the famous Cup Final in 1991, when Phil O'Donnell scored his first goal for the club. I was eight. I was pleased to see him come back to the club, lending experience to our young side. At any game I was at, he always made a significant contribution, no matter the end result. I was at Fir Park for the game against Aberdeen a few weeks ago, and could see what a great role he was playing as club Captain. I've rarely seen such a well organised 'Well side, playing remarkably good football. It looked as though he was having a good time out there, which makes it all the more unexpected and tragic that Phil O'Donnell's life was cut short.

He will be missed.

Motherwell and Wishaw - rise up and throw out your MSP!

The only newspaper I've had time to read this morning is the Sunday Herald. As soon as I hit the frontpage, my jaw hit the floor:

Motherwell is a pigsty, says Jack

McConnell mauls his local town centres

By Paul Hutcheon

Has he gone mad? Why would any politician, not least the First Minister of Scotland, say this about any town? Why would a politician say it about the town he has supposed to have represented for eight years?

After reading the article, and Alan Taylor's interview with the best wee numpty in the world, I was even more shocked:

"I've been fascinated by this constituency," says McConnell, taking a sip of coffee from his mug. He looks weary but relaxed, glad of a few moments respite from the campaign. Birds are loudly singing. The rustling in the undergrowth may be a grey squirrel. The bench on which we are sitting has been newly constructed by Bridget. Is there no end to her talents?

"I didn't know this area at all when I got selected in 1998 and obviously I got to know it very quickly," adds McConnell. "And there are some really striking things about it. One is the basic state of the town centres which reflects some of the mood - contemporary mood - of the local community and those two decades of decline in the 1980s and 1990s and what that did to the psychology of the place. But they also reflect careless, thoughtless decision-making in the 1960s and 1970s, about what the place would look like.

"The town centre here in Wishaw has never been properly thought through for the past 20 years. That town centre in Motherwell is a pigsty. It's dirty, it's untidy, it's ... bad planning decisions, bad architectural decisions, and it needs radical surgery. There seems to have been something wrong with the psychology of the place over 20 or 30 years."

My Grandparents live in Motherwell and in Wishaw, and I spent a lot of my formative years in both towns. To treat the towns, and the people there as some kind of social experiment and muse on them in such a detached, casual, way is appalling and insulting. To take no responsibility for the state of the place he purports to represent is shocking. It seems as though Jack has been sitting back, looking out of his office window on Wishaw Main Street and watching it all tumble down around him.

My grandparents still shop in Motherwell and in Wishaw, partly because they have little alternative. They don't have cars to go to East Kilbride or Glasgow. They have to rely on an increasingly poor bus service - when I used to stay at my Gran's in Wishaw buses would trundle past her house all the time, now it's an irregular service that doesn't run into the evenings. There are still businesses clinging on, but it seems as if every time I go, the two towns have died a little more.

Jack has been their representative for eight years. They have been represented by Labour for generations. The only thing curious about the psychology of Motherwell and Wishaw is why they keep electing Labour politicians. It's time they broke with Labour, and elected someone committed to the town - someone like Marion Fellows.