Cheapside Street memorial

I was privileged to attend the memorial events on Sunday for the 50th anniversary of the Cheapside Street fire.

The event began with a wreath-laying ceremony at Necropolis, followed by a service at Glasgow Cathedral, and the unveiling of a plaque at a ceremony in George Square.

The whole day was very moving, and it made me reflect not only on the devastating loss of life back in 1960, but of the very real risks fire crews face every day.

A book to mark the anniversary has been launched, and I hope to get myself a copy soon.

Campaign Saturday

I'm just about to head for bed, absolutely knackered after a satisfying day's campaigning.

Before heading out canvassing for Chris Stephens in Glasgow South West this morning, I baked two dozen fairy cakes. I canvassed from 11 'til 1.30, grabbed some lunch, and joined the Glasgow East team leafleting for John Mason. We worked through until nearly 5pm, then I came back home, made some Easter nests and iced the fairy cakes (with suitably elegant yellow icing and wee SNP symbols), had a shower and took the cakes to Billy McAllister's Glasgow North East adoption meeting in Sighthill.

I feel I should commend the One Stop Shop on a wonderful spread of food - delicious curry as well as pizza slices and salad. Perfect after such a long day! I did manage a Canadian barndance at the ceilidh; sadly, the dashing white sergeant is a bit much for me in this condition!

In the SNP, we all work incredibly hard to get our message out, and support all our candidates. Most people there tonight were also out campaigning during the day, and will be out again tomorrow.

I'm telling you all this because I want to let you know how hard we're all working - right across the city and across Scotland - because we're a party that takes nothing for granted.

The sad thing is, Labour still do, and have clearly learnt nothing from their defeats in Crewe and Glasgow East. Between all my various tasks today I read that, speaking at the Labour Conference in Glasgow today, John Prescott said:

"I was in Crewe the other week, we're going to win that back, it's a Labour seat. We let it go and we shouldn't because we didn't fight hard enough.

"And that's the same as I want that fight in Glasgow East, getting those seats back for Labour because they belong to us and we've got to convince the electorate a bit more."

The arrogance of Prescott, saying that they 'own' these seats, and presumably the voters within them, is just breathtaking.

In this General Election, moreso perhaps than previous elections, this kind of arrogance just won't do. Why should people continue to slavishly, unquestioningly, vote for a party who has been in power for so long? People I speak to on the doorsteps certainly don't see why they should. The majority of people I spoke to today used to vote Labour, but were giving serious thought to switching. I hear from colleagues that this is happening all round Scotland.


John Mason, the SNP MP for Glasgow East, said:

"It is this arrogance that loses Labour elections. No seat in Glasgow 'belongs' to any party.

"Seats are not Labour seats or Lib Dem seats. They are not even SNP seats. They are the people's seats.

"The SNP will never forget that and we will make sure that the people of Glasgow East know how Labour still take their votes for granted with this arrogant blunder."

Jim Murphy - running scared?

I'm a fan of Question Time (geeky, it's true), and was looking forward to seeing Jim Murphy get grilled this Thursday when the show comes to Glasgow. Sadly, it seems he has pulled out.

I would have thought, with the 'Scottish' Labour Conference coming up this weekend, he would have wanted to make a bit of a splash, promote whatever policies they're keeping under their well-worn hat, and do a bit of fighting for his own political life in East Renfrewshire. However, the SecStatSco's most recent big party event was the Labour party fundraising dinner held immediately prior to Steven Purcell's resignation. I wonder if he's worried about a Glasgow audience posing the questions that the local media were too nervy to ask.

The lineup for Question Time is a bit disappointing - I see the shows located in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland as a wee window for the rest of the UK to peer in and see who our politicians are and what devolution means in practice. There's so little reporting of devolved issues in the mainstream media as it is - I really don't see what's gained by putting up Liam Byrne (Lab, Birmingham Hodge Hill), Baroness Warsi (Cons, from Dewsbury), Julia Goldsworthy (Lib Dem, Falmouth and Camborne) and Sir Martin Sorrell. Since the show's coming to Glasgow, surely it's worth putting up a majority of Scottish politicians and commentators?

Of the last 37 episodes, the following five have been outside of England - Cardiff (26.02.10), Belfast (11.02.10), Edinburgh (26.11.09), Llandudno (01.11.09), and Dunfermline (07.05.09). Most of these have featured what I would consider to be prominent and appropriate politicians.

I've heard that there is hope for some relevant debate tomorrow night in the form of our First Minister, Alex Salmond. Fingers crossed! As Alex Neil joked at conference, give people in England the choice, and they'd probably vote SNP!

Labour in Epic Fail

Just got this amusing press release through in my google reader feed, and couldn't help but chuckle. Labour representing the facebook generation? Not in my experience! You only need look around the City Chambers to see that the younger generation are poorly represented in the Labour party.

According to analysis from the Electoral Reform Society, pre-2007 in Scotland

"average age of a councillor was 55 and there was only one councillor under the age of 30"

Just one! The 2007 elections had a significant impact on this:

"the number of councillors aged below 30 has risen to 28, of whom three were 18–21-year-olds taking advantage of the reduction in the age of candidature for these elections (in Aberdeen, Inverclyde and Moray)"

A substantial majority of these young people are SNP. There's a reason of course why the SNP did better out of this - the establishment Labour party Councillors weren't going to give up their cushy seats for some upstart young people. It's simply harder to get your foot in the door in these circumstances. A lot of the Labour MPs who are retiring or being deselected are older, so it makes it a wee bit easier for younger people to get selected; despite this, the party remains pretty old, male and white.

The SNP put their faith in younger candidates - David McDonald, Jennifer Dunn and me in Glasgow, David Beckett in Edinburgh, John and Kirsty West and Mark McDonald in Aberdeen, Gary Coull in Moray, and others right across the country (I'm sure I had a list at some point!) .We've repaid that trust and learned fast, but by and large most people are still surprised to find out that you're a Councillor and not an older, white man!

The SNP's younger representatives in the Scottish Parliament, Aileen Campbell and Jamie Hepburn have also proved great examples of youth, enthusiasm, and hard work.

The SNP have always done well in mock elections, so it's no surprise that we won so many in Aberdeenshire. I believe young people 'get' independence: you don't want to be able to earn your own money, make your way in the world, and be taken seriously. Responsibility and experience come with taking control of your life and making decisions, rightly or wrongly. That applies readily to national self-determination. The SNP's progressive policies and support for the anti-nuclear movement are also attractive to people starting out in the world.

Labour offer a vision (if indeed you can call it that) of dependence, doing things the way they have always been done. They are partly to blame for the cynicsm and disenfranchisement of young people today, through policies which demonise and segregate.

The SNP, and the independence cause, is gathering bright, enthusiastic, talented young Scots. There are more and more young people about in the party, and I'm always glad to see so many new faces at every conference. Young people in the SNP are listened to and respected for their hard work and what they can bring to the party. I'm incredibly proud of the work the YSI does in going out campaigning and encouraging more young people to think about Scotland's future.

Young Scots for Independence mocked Jim Murphy’s attempts to get hip and down with it:-

“Since when did the Facebook generation support the illegal war in Iraq? or ID cards? or Trident? Labour are out of touch with Scotland and in particular, Scotland’s youth. If anything, Labour are running scared of the Facebook generation, scared that they may have enough belief in Scotland to support independence.

“Labour’s attempts to court young people in Scotland have been an epic fail. It is under the SNP that we are seeing record apprenticeships, more college places and more investment in youth-services. It is the SNP who care about young people, and it is only with SNP MPs that we can block cuts to the services young people cherish.

“While Jim Murphy feuters away time faffing about on Facebook and Twitter, the SNP Government is working hard for young Scots. While Jim Murphy is busy tweeting, the Scottish Government has increased collage places by 4,000. While Jim Murphy updates his Facebook status, the SNP has created tens of thousands of apprenticeships, investing in the future of our Facebook generation. All the Scotland Office is done is talk Scotland down and acted as a Labour campaign office - I'm sure the taxpayer would rather the best part of £10 million a year be spent on supporting Scotland’s economy.

“Young people don’t need pandering, they need action, and Jim Murphy is taking none of that. It’s time to seriously look at the usefulness of his office, and ask if the money spent on Murphy’s tweeting and facebooking can be better invested in frontline services.”

Electoral registration

A small update on my earlier post on electoral registration - I've just recieved an answer to the I asked at the Finance and Audit Scrutiny Committee, and I can confirm that the election team in the Council have gone out to canvass 44,500 properties in the last year to chase people to register to vote. That's no mean feat, and despite the registration rate, they are trying their best.

SNP campaign conference review - Saturday

Campaign conference was a bit different for me this year - I usually enjoy the socialising part of conference as much as the debates, but having to keep off the booze made me wonder whether I'd have much fun! I needn't have worried - it was great to catch up with friends from around the country, and the karaoke in the evening provided a good deal of entertainment. I had been hoping to blog from conference itself, but the lack of signal in the hall stymied that effort. I did manage a wee bit of Tweeting!

The debates were mainly focused around Westminster issues as you might expect from such an event, and an assertion that only the SNP can guarantee that they will put Scotland first. The reality is that all the UK parties, as much as they might spin, have competing interests from all the constituencies, all the nations and regions; we can put Scotland at the heart of what we do.

The resolution kicked off with an inspiring speech from the YSI's Ben Macpherson (which may be on the iPlayer), saying why he believed in independence and explaining that the purpose behind our belief as a party was for the betterment of our people. Richard Laird of the FSN backed that up, saying that the "union dividend" that people believed was of benefit to Scotland could not be found in "the deprivation and the destitution, the alienation and the apathy, the poverty pockets and the poverty of ambition". Alyn Smith MEP told conference that our job was to inspire, community by community and sector by sector, to talk about the better Scotland we will be with Independence.

This debate was followed by a cast iron example of what we could take action on if independent - pensioner poverty. John Mason MP called on the SNP to

"condemn proposals by the Labour Party to scrap Disability Living Allowance for the over 65s and Attendance Allowance across the UK to pay for a new care service in England. Conference warns that the Labour Government proposal could see 58,000 vulnerable Scots plunged into poverty, that 145,000 elderly people in Scotland will be affected by the removal of Attendance Allowance and notes independent assessments suggest 40% of those receiving Attendance Allowance will be pushed into poverty by its removal."

The impact on carers and their families was also raised in the debate, and the sense of frustration over the lack of control over this scenario was clear. With more SNP MPs committed to putting the well being of Scotland's vulnerable at the centre of the debate, concessions could be made. With independence, we could make the benefits system work more effectively.

Further frustrations were vented by Mike Weir MP on renewable energy and access to the grid for remote power generation. At present, OFGEM have a locational charging regime, where those generating power closest to the population centres of the UK receive a subsidy for producing, but those in remote areas (primarily in the renewables sector) are charged to connect to the grid. Mike pointed out that the national grid is not fit for the renewables age, and is still beholden to a centralised, power station driven regime. Rob Gibson MSP pointed out that system of charging, coupled with Crown Estate fees for use of the sea bed, combine as a disincentive to developing the renewable technologies which could drive our economy for years to come. John Mowat, our candidate in Orkney and Shetland, gave the perfect illustration of the power of renewables by relating his ferry trip over to conference - he could confirm that the big waves, strong winds and tides are there: we just need to harness them!

During the debate on kinship carers, Adam Ingram MSP spoke about how Labour's actions belied their rhetoric of fairness: the Scottish Government's move to provide kinship carers with a much-deserved allowance had resulted in the DWP reducing carers' benefit entitlement. Despite the best efforts of our Government to iron out this issue, UK ministers continue to stall and obfuscate.

During the course of the weekend, there were presentations by our Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers, updating conference on their work. Michael Russell spoke about what he believed were the guiding principles for Scottish education - access and excellence. He noted that education was a long game: our actions now may not bear fruit for a generation or more. He had found also on his recent visit to Finland that the party political is put aside to build a political consensus on education. I gathered that Mike hoped Labour and the others might see the value of such an approach, and he reflected that Curriculum for Excellence had that cross-party backing through the life of the Scottish Parliament. One area where there was difference was PFI/PPP contracts, which the SNP opposed back in 2000. Mike relayed the shocking figures that PFI/PPP payments increased by £62m in the last 12 twelve months, to £244m per year. Some local authorities are now shelling out around 10% of their education budgets on repayments.

Richard Lochhead spoke about what devolution and the SNP in Government had done from the rural sector, but warned of the implications of CAP and CFP reform for Scotland. Richard described how fishing has never been a priority for Labour, and how it had been one of the first sacrifices made by the Tories on joining the EC. It's another example of how our industries can be seen as 'expendable' when viewed from London, but essential from Edinburgh.

I attended the Victim Support Scotland fringe event, which heard from Kenny MacAskill about policing, violence reduction, Barrowfield, minimum pricing (backed also by Victim Support!) and the criminal justice system. Fringe events are a really good opportunity to ask questions of our ministers, and give feedback on experiences across the country. I shared a bit about CIRV and the work done by the community police in my ward, and learnt about what was going on elsewhere.

Saturday afternoon saw a debate on the Calman Commission (or, as Patrick Grady put it, the Calman Omission), a typically energetic and amusing financial appeal by Alex Neil (if Alex Salmond was allowed to participate in the Leaders Debate, we might win in England too!), topical resolutions on Fuel Duty, the Renfrew Ferry and the Leaders Debates.

On the subject of Leaders Debates, Angus Robertson railed against the BBC for the lack of inclusion, participation and fairness for Scotland - ninety minutes of prime time coverage with nothing to restore the balance. Such was the attack, I began to get a fear that the BBC would take the hump, pull the plug and the OB van would be making swift tracks down the A9, but thankfully the coverage is still on the iPlayer! I particularly liked Angus' play on the BBC motto: Let Nation Speak Unto Nation - not Let One Nation Dominate...

Alex Salmond's keynote address to conference followed. The text of the speech is available >here<, as well as being on the iPlayer for the next few days. There was a fair on the people being at the centre of what we do, about championing Scotland and our communities, and about the wastefulness and wantonness of Westminster priorities. The closing lines are pretty powerful, so here they are:

"...after 18 dismal years of the Tories, and 13 dismal years of Labour – Thatcher or Major, Major or Blair it’s always been a case of Tweedledum and Tweedledee.

"Friends, we remember Labour’s feeble fifty who stood by while the Tories imposed the Poll tax on Scotland.

"We remember Labour’s lobby fodder who voted shamefully for war in Iraq.

"Labour MPs who went to London to settle down.

"Who remained silent as the gap grew between rich and poor. As inequality in this nation reached levels not seen since the end of the Second World War.

"13 years to make a difference – an unlucky 13 for too many Scots.

"Let down by the Westminster machine.

"And yes, people are raging.

"But friends, it doesn't have to be like this.

"With MPs who are champions for the people of Scotland

"SNP MPs who will be at Westminster, to stand up for Scotland, not stand up for the system.

"To protect the people, not the perks.

"Not to settle down in London but to settle up for Scotland.

"Scottish MPs who will put our nation first.

"National champions, local champions.

"MPs worthy of the peoples trust."

I'll post up my thoughts on Sunday later on - think this post is quite long enough!

Why should I vote for x?

Iain Dale's blog today links to a series of wee books by Biteback, of which the Lib Dem book is apparently selling best.

I hear they're interesting wee books, chock-full of arguments for the doorstep. Good for voters and activists alike!

I'd of course like to plug the SNP version - although oddly it's slightly dearer than the UK parties! I've had it suggested that's because it's just of greater value...

For the more cynical among you, there's a Why Vote? book to get you started.

I'll do a review once mine arrives!