Happy St Andrew's Day

I'd like to wish all readers a happy St Andrew's Day.

Today, I'm excited by the launch of Your Scotland, Your Voice. It looks, from a brief flick through, to be a nice looking piece of work, beginning with good strong quotes from our Cabinet Secretaries giving their perspective on Scotland's future.

I'm glad to see that the difference is noted between the Calman Commission, with it's twelve public meetings, and the National Conversation with one hundred and thirty public events. I attended some of the events, some of which were organised by non-governmental organisations, and was impressed by the debate that occurred and the questions which were posed. Some of these questions are reproduced in the document as the issues they raise are explained.

It's a chunky document, but I will find time to read through it all and I aim to blog further on this. I hope others will do likewise; it's a significant step towards independence.

Campaigning

Great turnout of people on Sunday afternoon to do campaigning work in my ward. The weather may be freezing, but we're still keen to chap doors and speak to the voters! Massive thanks to all who turned out.

Happy news from Bo'ness

SNP ROMP HOME IN BY-ELECTION ON FIRST COUNT

NO JOY FOR LABOUR AS VOTE FALLS & SNP INCREASE BY 10%

The SNP has enjoyed an overwhelming victory in the Bo'ness & Blackness
by-election in Falkirk by winning the seat on the first count of votes
with an overwhelming 58% of the vote whilst Labour’s vote fell back from
2007. The victory sees the election of Ann Ritchie as the new SNP
councillor for the seat.

The SNP vote rose by 10% from May 2007 to 58% today whilst Labour fell
back 2% to 30%. The result equals a 6% swing to the SNP.

Commenting on the victory Falkirk West SNP MSP Michael Matheson said:

"This is an outstanding result for the SNP in the Central Scotland region.
For the SNP to win outright on the first preference votes with almost
double the share Labour received is a remarkable result for the SNP in
central Scotland.

“Labour very much thought they were in with a shout and will be very, very
disappointed to have not only been defeated but to see their vote fall.

"Ann Ritchie will make an excellent councillor for Bo'ness & Blackness and
her well-deserved victory reflects on how the SNP is addressing the issues
that matter to people locally and nationally.

"More importantly this is a great tribute to the late Cllr Harry Constable
whose sad death led to this by-election. As a long-serving councillor for
the area his hard work has obviously left a strong and enduring legacy for
the SNP."

Commenting on her victory Cllr Ann Ritchie said;

"It is an honour to have been elected to represent Bo'ness & Blackness on
Falkirk Council.

"I look forward to working with my SNP colleagues on the council, in
Parliament and in the SNP Government to put forward a positive vision for
Falkirk and to fight for the interests of Bo'ness & Blackness.

"The sad passing of respected Councillor Harry Constable was a loss to
Bo'ness & Blackness because he had contributed so much to the community
over many years.

"I will work hard to ensure Harry’s legacy continues to show that it is
the SNP which represents the best interests of ordinary people."

ENDS

Notes

1. The results of the first preference votes were:

SNP (Ann Ritchie): 1,604 votes - 58% (+10%)
Labour: 823 votes - 30% (-2%)
Tory: 283 votes - 10% (-3%)
LibDem: 79 votes - 3% (3%)

A 6% swing from Labour to the SNP.

Since a majority of votes was acquired on the first count Cllr Ann Ritchie
was elected at the first stage of counting.

2. Details on Ann Ritchie:

Anne, a married mother of two has a long record of service to the wider
Bo'ness community and is:

• An Executive member of the Bo'ness Children's Fair Day Committee
• Chair of the Appeals Committee for the Fair Day
• A Church Elder and Sunday School teacher in the Carriden Parish Church
• 12 years a member of the Bo'ness Community Council
• Parent member of the Bo'ness Public School Council
• Coach to local girls youth football team

Labour have nothing to say on organised crime

Press release following today's special meeting of Full Council:

Commenting on the decision by Glasgow City Council's Labour Group to boycott today's Special Council meeting on the issue of Serious and Organised Crime, James Dornan, SNP Leader of the Opposition said:

"Labour's contempt for Glasgow City Council and more importantly the residents of the city knows no bounds.


"Whilst we attempted to debate the important issues of serious crime and also standing united against racism and intolerance Councillor Purcell and his timid band of followers decided to boycott the meeting and have lunch instead.

"This is the third time my colleague Councillor McAllister has tried to raise the issue of serious and organised crime in the council chamber and the third time that Labour have refused to debate it. What exactly are they scared of?"

Councillor Billy McAllister, who tabled a motion on serious crime for the third time today, said:

"The people of Glasgow know that serious crime is a major issue in their city; the fact that Labour don't want to discuss it speaks volumes for their attitude towards the people of Glasgow.

"We have debated many major issues facing our city in the chamber, however the one issue which appears to be out of reach in open debate is the question of serious criminality. This is a bad day for democracy in Glasgow."

Councillor Dornan concluded:

"Labour's childish attempt to derail this important debate once again does nothing to raise people's opinion of politics. Arrogant behaviour such as this suggests that Labour think they can continue to take the people of Glasgow for granted. Glasgow deserves better.

"It's time that Labour realised that trampling on the democratic process hurts everyone - voters, victims of crime and eventually even politicians."

Notes:

1. The special council meeting has been called by 20 councillors.

2. No Labour members attended today's meeting. The Lord Provost was in attendance to chair proceedings.

3. The special meeting was called after the Lord Provost ruled a motion on serious crime as "not relevant or competent". An earlier motion, in February 2009, fell after Labour Leader Councillor Purcell used standing orders to end the meeting of Full Council early.

4. A copy of today's agenda can be found here.

Bain proves a point - not the one he means to!

I had to laugh when I saw this daft wee article in the Evening Times. To get to Westminster (on what appears to be a day trip) Willie Bain got the bus to airport, thereby proving that a perfectly adequate service already exists and Garl isn't strictly necessary.

I live in Glasgow North East, in Dennistoun near Alexandra Parade Station which is on the Springburn branch line. If Garl existed and I wanted to get to the airport, I'd have to haul my suitcase down the street, down the stairs to the platform, up the stairs or into the lift at Queen Street, wait for the wee connecting bus to wind it's way down to Central, or haul my case down Buchanan Street (probably in the rain, always seems to happen that way!). Makes me feel tired just thinking of it.

By contrast, the award winning airport bus service stops right outside Queen Street Station. Very handy.

It's also an interesting point to note (picked up by a Herald letter writer) that plane travel over short distances is one of most environmentally damaging ways to travel. John Mason travels to London, that first time and since, by train allowing him to get work done on the way and being far more eco-friendly.

P.S. Mr Bain seemed very lonely waiting for the bus with his wee rucksack (a contrast to John's rousing send-off!), but it seems he's found some fine upstanding friends to see him right in London. Sure he'll fit in just like the rest of them...

Platform performance

When I went to visit my in-laws between Christmas and Hogmanay last year, I was pretty appalled at the state of the trains and the stations. I don't spend a lot of time in English train stations as a rule, but I do spend a fair amount of time in Scottish ones. It seems there's more of a distance between them than I thought!

Anyway, to get to Derby, I had to change at Crewe. The journey hadn't been great up until then; the train turned up several carriages short, leading to fractious disputes about reservations, luggage everywhere, no food, and some badly behaved wean deliberately trying to open the loo while I was in it. And then I arrived at Crewe. It was dilapidated, dirty, the cafe was expensive and the food poor. The chocolate brownie I chose had all the appeal of nibbling on a charcoal briquette. I'm really not surprised to see Crewe up there on the list of dismal stations, and I hope investment comes before I need use its platforms again! What interests me is a remark on the difference in Scotland:

The champions argued that Scotland had avoided the problem of poor stations by organising funding more effectively over a number of decades.

A welcome comment on Scotland's way of doing things. Our major stations are quite nice: Waverley, Central and Queen Street have had a lot of cash spent on them, and they look the piece. Once the Central hotel project is completed, Glasgow Central really will be the jewel in Scotland's railway crown. I don't mind waiting at Stirling, which is pretty, with a proper waiting room and vending machines. Stations along the Perth-Inverness line are very picturesque, and those in the central belt pretty functional.

From recent visits, I feel Perth and Inverness could do better; I've not been in Aberdeen or Dundee for some time, so I can't comment on them. Most stations I use are well kept and clean - there's a guy at Alexandra Parade most mornings ensuring there's no litter. The stations can be a bit glum though. Most don't have waiting rooms or indeed any kind of ticket office (which is fair enough given the number of people who go through them) and they're not much to look at. I think the notion of community involvement where appropriate could be a workable one, particularly when you see the work of groups like Friends of Walkden Station. This shouldn't be about maintenence on the cheap of course, but stations could be made a bit prettier.

I have four train stations in my ward - High Street, Bellgrove (where the name of the blog originates!), Bridgeton and Dalmarnock. The latter two are the more dilapidated, although there are plans to spend significant sums of money on Dalmarnock as part of the Commonwealth Games regeneration. I believe Clyde Gateway are also hoping to improve Bridgeton station. These are very different stations, and could all do with a bit of investment. I'd be happy to hear from constituents who have any ideas for improving them.

Homelessness

I feel it's important to find out as much as I can about how different services in the Council work, particularly when a paper is coming up in front of a committee I sit on. That might not sound unusual, but trust me, when I notice Labour Councillors chatting, reading newspapers or checking up on the cinema listings during committee, I feel that the opposition on the Council are the only ones doing the leg work. The SNP group often recieve briefings, and do a lot of digging before we go to Committee. It's the responsible thing to do.

We've had a couple of reports in recent months on homelessness. I've been to visit the Women's hostel in the south side, an alcohol hostel in my ward, and saw round Bell Street before it closed. Having attended a recent 'one year on' event, I went out on a "shadow shift" last Tuesday night with members of staff from the Glasgow Street Service.

The Street Service is formed from a partnership between the Simon Community and Barnardo's, who previously ran separate services in the city. The website puts it thus:

GSS provides advice and support to access accommodation and other services such as medical, addiction and mental health services.

They offer practical help and emotional support to those sleeping rough, at risk of sleeping rough or becoming homeless and those having difficulties accessing other services.

There's a great deal of behind the scenes work, advocacy and casework that I didn't get to see last Tuesday; what I did do was accompany KB, an outreach worker, as she went round the city centre. KB pointed out spots where people are likely to be found rough sleeping, and talked about the way in which the team go about their work. Contact with their clients comes through face to face interaction, and a free phone number 0800 027 7466. Arrangements are made to meet with clients at times suitable for them and help offered.

The difficulty comes in finding accommodation to prevent people from sleeping outside; there are just not enough beds, or homes for people to move on to. A gap exists between the closure of old, inadequate large scale hostels, and building more small scale units; this is filled to some extent by expensive B&B accommodation and services purchased from other providers.

The locations of various projects were pointed out to me, and I was quite surprised at the number of places in or near the city centre which I had walked passed not knowing their purpose. We visited a project in Tradeston which helps people recover from alcohol problems, and popped into a soup kitchen near Central Station where people can get advice and a hot meal. I was taken aback at the number of people at the soup kitchen. The scale of homelessness in Glasgow is somewhat hidden from view; there are so many who depend on charitable services to help them to get by.

Times are difficult in the Council; spending cut backs are very real. I wonder though how much more services like this can take. This contrasts hugely with the Commonwealth Games (will at least bring more much-needed housing) and the money Labour politicians are demanding for GARL.

As with any visit I've done, I'll certainly think on what I saw and heard, and hope to work towards a better solution. Thanks to all the staff who supported me.