Political credibility relies on displaying good judgement

At a time when politics and politicians are widely discredited it is vital that those seeking to rebuild the reputation of politics demonstrate good judgement in order to prove to the electorate that they are capable of representing them honestly.

I met up with Jackson Carlaw MSP and Bill Aitken MSP yesterday with every intention of taking part in the STUC's march and rally against racism in Scotland. Make no mistake, after our participation in the impromptu march against the BNP a fortnight ago, Scottish Conservatives are more than willing to stand up and be counted in the political coalition against racism. However, on our arrival in St Andrews Square it became apparent to us that many of those attending had their own very personal agendas that had little to do with protesting against racism in Scotland.

In particular my comment relates to a banner displayed for all to see at the front of St Andrews Square stating "Boycott Racist Israel" (seen being carried as part of the march between 1 minute 8 seconds and 1 minute 11 seconds of the STV news item at http://news.stv.tv/scotland/140593-anti-protest-rally-takes-place-in-glasgow/). This had nothing to do with the advertised purpose of yesterday's march and rally, as explained in the glossy literature distributed by the STUC to political parties and community organisations, and has everything to do with a political agenda pursued by people who are far from engaged in seeking peace between an Israeli state able to live within secure borders and a viable Palestinian state. Indeed it is often possible to directly link this sort of public statement to anti-Semitic activities in the UK by the minority of mindless idiots who pursue hate based on the Jewish religion or the existence of the State of Israel.

So without hesitation Jackson, Bill and I decided that participation in yesterday's march and rally was inappropriate as it would fail to register our objection to this banner and the sentiment it expressed.

Imagine then our astonishment as we watched the Secretary of State for Scotland and the General Secretary of the STUC set off on the march not 6 feet from, and with a clear view of, this banner - for me an astonishing lack of judgement from the Member of Parliament who represents the largest Jewish community in Scotland.

And that is not the only demonstration of a lack of judgement from our erstwhile MP over the past week.

The Internet is a wonderful forum for communication but must, as with the electorate, be treated with respect.

Today we find that Jim Murphy has had to remove comments from his website after receiving a letter informing him that if he did not remove the item, or if he repeats the claim made in it, he will face defamation action, (read more at http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article6936891.ece)

By making statements about your opposition that are untrue all you do is bring politics into further disrepute and the claims Mr. Murphy was making about a split between Tories on schools admission policy could not have been further from the truth.

The truth is you will not find any difference between Conservatives on the issue of St Ninians admission policy. We believe the Council, with a view to future expansion of East Renfrewshire, is right to redraw the catchment area and that this should preserve the principle of East Renfrewshire schools first and foremost for East Renfrewshire residents children. After all it is the East Renfrewshire council taxpayer who paid for the school to be built and who pay for it to be maintained. So committed to this position are we that we included this issue as part of a full page advert in this weeks Eastwood Today before Mr Murphy's claim was made.

But instead of stating his own position, so that the electorate can judge him accordingly, we found East Renfrewshire's MP claiming a split by deliberately misattributing a statement made by Paul McBride QC who represents the Conservative Party in Scotland on law and order issues.

Far from having stated it was "completely unacceptable" to redraw catchment boundaries Paul actually used the words in relation to the way the consultation exercise has been instigated and conducted having been asked for his professional opinion on the facts. Paul is senior counsel to a number of Scotland's newspapers and his opinion, as well as that of another non-partisan QC who has reviewed the legality of the Council's position, is that the process has not been conducted in line with our Council's own policies and guidelines and that this has left the Council taxpayer of East Renfrewshire exposed to potential financial loss. Paul's concern is that consultation should be fair and that the taxpayer should not be asked to waste money settling expensive legal action where it is entirely predictable and avoidable. East Renfrewshire Council has already had to back down on one Court of Session action and I am informed settled legal costs at our expense. This is surely unacceptable at a time when our Council is having to look for voluntary redundancies and COSLA are warning of even deeper cuts and financial hardship to come.

So let's be clear, Conservatives support the case for redrawing catchment boundaries for St Ninians in anticipation of East Renfrewshire's increased population as developments like Greenlaw are built and inhabited but this must be done properly and it would be "completely unacceptable" if this was done by exposing the Council taxpayer of East Renfrewshire to financial loss.

Demonstrating good judgement in the way we live our lives and in the campaigns we fight is the only way for politicians to excite and reengage the public we seek to serve. I hope to demonstrate I am ready to serve the people of East Renfrewshire by the decisions I take and the campaigns I fight. Whether the same can be said for my principle opponent only time will tell, but until then I think the evidence of his lack of judgement is clear for all to see.

Labour led East Renfrewshire Council administration miss yet another opportunity to do right by local residents

Having just spent 3 hours attending the Full Council meeting of East Renfrewshire Council, I find myself struggling to find an appropriate form of words to describe just how little the Labour led administration of our Council understands the world we live in and the problems their constituents face.

One issue in particular clearly demonstrates their disconnect with reality and I write about it in the hope that making this information as widely accessible as possible will embarrass the Council into reconsidering its position.

Independent Councillor for Netherlee, Stamperland and Williamwood, Ralph Robertson, proposed a motion tonight that would in effect have changed Council policy relating to the right of residents to protect their property by permitting them to gate lanes adjacent to their property where these lanes are being used by those intent on disrupting the lives of local people. The right of everyone to live without the fear of preventable anti-social behaviour is fundamental to our belief system and democracy and yet in East Renfrewshire your privacy is no longer sacrosanct as far as our Council is concerned.

For some time Stamperland has been blighted by youth disorder, with lanes used by ferrule youths as a place to drink or as a place in which they can avoid police - as they traverse quickly between streets using lanes as a short cut.

In proposing his motion Councillor Robertson provided evidence of Councils supporting their local communities across the UK by allowing residents to protect their property, privacy and safety by erecting gates to private lanes. From Liverpool to Glasgow, Ralph provided detail case studies on the success of gating lanes as a measure to tackle anti-social behaviour. In all every case the result of erecting gates has been immediate success in stopping anti-social behaviour simply by making problem lanes inaccessible.

Seconding the motion, Conservative Councillor Gordon McCaskill talked about the right of residents to privacy and pointed to a recent High Court judgement that everyone has a right to privacy in their own home regardless of any requirement of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act.

What then followed dismayed everyone in the public gallery and remains nothing short of a disgrace.

In proposing an amendment to the motion, which basically supported the Council's current policy, Councillor Eddie Phillips asserted the current policy relates back to a time of Conservative governance. As the Stamperland gate issue only became an issue in 2002/03 and relates to the Land Reform Act which came into effect in 2001 I am struggling to understand whether he believes it was the last Conservative administration of Eastwood District Council in 1995 or the last Conservative government at Westminster in 1997 that is to blame for the current failed and discredited policy? This is quite simply nonsense and a simple attempt to politicise an issue that should be beyond Party politics.

Then in a sensational contribution by Councillor Montague, who is supposed to represent the Stamperland area, she described anti-social behaviour in the area as "perceived" instead of "real".

A more out of touch and insensitive statement you could not make up!

Councillor Montague reeled off a host of statistics to try and suggest that there is no youth disorder issue in the Stamperland area only to find that moments later Leader of the Council, Councillor Jim Fletcher, spoke specifically about additional policing resource having been deployed into Stamperland over the summer to tackle anti-social behaviour - a reference I believe to the much publicised deployment of mounted police on Stamperland streets as well as a regular dog branch presence.

After all was said and done, Councillors votes 8 for Councillor Robertson's motion and 12 for the administration's amendment. This makes a mockery of the Council's motto "Working For You".

Truth be told East Renfrewshire Council's administration only care about their political pet projects.

Later in the meeting the administration's Councillors voted through plans to move ahead with a College while admitting they have not undertaken any research among local unemployed or young people as to whether they would attend a College in Barrhead - despite this being their specific target demographic.

In committing the best part of £9 million of Council Tax money when no economic case for this expenditure has not been proven the Council demonstrate once again they have no empathy with their electorate.

When everyone else is eliminating all nonessential expenditure, East Renfrewshire Council are prepared to gamble £9 million of your money on a project that may or may not prove to be of value. By the time any College is designed and built the current economic downturn will have passed and there is no guarantee places will be filled as employment prospects improve for those leaving school. Equally the demographics of East Renfrewshire suggest there will be fewer young people seeking college places in five years time and then again five years later. None of this was disputed by the administration tonight and yet all twelve members of the administration voted to move forward with this project when they could have postponed their decision by one month to allow research on local demand to take place - as suggested by Conservative Group Leader, Councillor Jim Swift.

I want to see a safe and prosperous East Renfrewshire. For that reason I intend to continue to champion the right of Stamperland residents to erect gates to their own private property and to support the principle of an East Renfrewshire College if, and only if, the Council can prove there is a demand for it among the people who are being asked to pay for it. This seems to me to be a logical position to take - it is only a shame it is a mirror image position to that of Labour led East Renfrewshire Council.

Being charitable is part of East Renfrewshire's DNA

I am not sure anyone actually coordinates statistics on donations to charity but my guess is East Renfrewshire will top Scotland's donations per head of population if these stats exist.

On Tuesday morning Jackson Carlaw and I met up with sisters Corin Ling and Lesley Love who are running the New York Marathon later this year to raise money for local charity East Renfrewshire Good Causes. I would, of course, encourage everyone to sponsor Corin and Lesley (you can do so at http://www.justgiving.com/thesistersloverunning/) not just because the girls are from East Renfrewshire and prepared to go through severe pain for charity but because the story of East Renfrewshire Good Causes is such an impressive and heartwarming one.

From left to right - Richard Cook, Lesley Love, Corin Ling and Jackson Carlaw MSP at Rouken Glen Park. Next Stop Central Park!

In fact, I am not sure too many local people are actually aware we have our own, very local, charity prepared to help those in need when they need it most.

Local man, Russell Macmillan set up the East Renfrewshire Good Causes charity as his way of "repaying his debt to society". Russell underwent a pancreas and kidney transplant after fighting Type 1 Diabetes for more than 30 years and decided to set up a charity to deliver real benefits to the people of East Renfrewshire because he wanted to put something back into a community he believes supported him when he needed it most.

Despite being registered blind, with just 5 per cent tunnel vision in one eye, Russell runs East Renfrewshire Good Causes from his home in Newton Mearns, taking not one penny of the money raised for himself to ensure 100% of the money you donate goes to local "good causes". Russell and the charity Trustees are constantly on the lookout for worthy causes to support across the length and breadth of East Renfrewshire and have already distributed thousands of pounds to those most in need of help. In many ways Russell has already repaid any "debt to society" hundreds of times over and everyone in East Renfrewshire should be very grateful to him for his dedication to our local area.

Of course East Renfrewshire's connection with charitable giving does not stop with East Renfrewshire Good Causes or indeed in the form of numerous Direct Debits paid to charities by people across East Renfrewshire every month. Thousands of local people give of their time every year to raise money through participation in sponsored events or through organising fundraising activities for any one of our numerous churches, synagogues, schools or voluntary organisations.

And we should of course pay tribute to local people who volunteer to staff the raft of charity shops on local high streets - even if many of us would like to see fewer charity shops in favour of a wide variety of local shops that are able to compete with the giant supermarket chains.

Earlier today I was privileged to be on the pitch at Hampden helping a team of volunteers who manage the process of laying out and removing the massive centre circle banner, which is used as the backdrop for teams arriving onto the pitch and the singing of national anthems.

For me standing on the Hampden pitch in front of 50,000 members of the Tartan army belting out the Proclaimers 500 miles was a once in a lifetime experience and payment enough for performing a pretty straight forward task. I also had a massive sense of relief when I didn’t trip and fall coming off the pitch bring a conga line of volunteers carrying a water laden banner down with me.

That is why I am donating my fee to local charities.

On the pitch at Hampden before Scotland beat Macedonia 2-0 to keep our hope of qualifying for the World Cup in South Africa alive!

I have donated part of my fee by sponsoring Corin and Lesley's participation in this years New York Marathon (http://www.justgiving.com/thesistersloverunning/) and have used the rest to sponsor Hamira Khan who is taking part in The Great Scottish Run, pounding the streets of Glasgow, tomorrow.

Hamira is Chair of the Scottish Conservative Community Cohesion Task Force and is running tomorrow in aid of Roshni. Roshni are a children’s charity based in Glasgow city centre with a team committed to the long-term development of child protection in the ethnic communities. Like East Renfrewshire Good Causes, I suspect Roshni is a local charity relatively few people will have heard of let alone understand the vital work they do. When you research the work they carry out in our communities and in lobbying parliament for better child protection the need to support Roshni becomes very apparent. (http://www.roshni.org.uk/).

Being actively involved in the everyday life of East Renfrewshire it becomes ever more apparent to me just how fortunate I am to be standing for Parliament in a constituency where giving is an integral part of local communities. Your time, your effort, your money - all are greatly valued by those who need help and all are given freely by local people every day.

Being charitable is part of East Renfrewshire's DNA, and that is just one more thing that makes this area so special!

Release of al-Megrahi set to cost East Renfrewshire dear!

The release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds has split opinion across Scotland in two, although across the rest of the free world it has largely brought condemnation.

Scenes of the Saltire being waved on the tarmac at Tripoli Airport, in celebration at Mr. Megrahi's return, were sickening to me particularly as Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill MSP, confirmed in his statement that Mr. Megrahi had expressed no remorse or compassion for the 270 victims of the bomb he was convicted of planting on Pan Am Flight 103.

These scenes brought shame on our national flag

More conceerning to me is the revelation that East Renfrewshire Council are now expected to monitor Mr. Megrahi while he is in Libya to ensure he adheres to the terms of release that have been agreed. Our officials are to receive regular medical reports and are reported to be establishing a satellite link to Libya to maintain communication.

That the hard pressed Council Tax payer of East Renfrewshire is expected to pay for this is completely unacceptable to me and the SNP Scottish Executive who took this perverse decision must immediately indemnify us against any loss.

As equally unacceptable is the silence of our local MP, and Secretary of State for Scotland, Jim Murphy. Scotland's name is being dragged through the mud internationally and the man empowered with representing our country through our UK national parliament remains silent.

His own constituents face the prospect of financial loss simply because we had the good grace to host Mr. Megrahi's family while he served his term in Greenock Prison - and that is completely unacceptable to me. Despite the difficult circumstances under which the Megrahi family came to live in Newton Mearns they lived in peace and were accepted by our local community. That we are now open to financial loss as a result is unacceptable.

In the modern day when most politicians have blog sites and/or Twitter it is easy to register what you believe on any issue, even if the media do not report what you say. Jim Murphy's blog remains as silent as his burgeoning press office on an issue that affects Scotland as a whole but more particularly his constituents in East Renfrewshire and that is an abdication of responsibility for which he must be held to account.

Labour lunatics are running the asylum!

I like to think that my style is far more about proposing solutions to problems rather than simply pointing to problems and criticising people or organisations. Tonight, I fear, I will break with tradition!

We have all heard the phrase "the lunatics are running the asylum" or a variation of it, but very rarely do you get tangible examples of it to report. So, if your target is to find examples of lunatics running something you should thank your lucky stars for East Renfrewshire Council.

Only East Renfrewshire Council believe the Land Reform Act, and Right to Roam legislation in particular, should take precedence over action to tackle anti-social behaviour. Now if this was simply an error in interpretation it might be forgivable but in this instance the Scottish Parliament has written to the Council of several occasions telling them to support local residents blighted by youth disorder and not to use "right to roam" as an excuse for doing nothing and yet East Renfrewshire Council continue to stick to their own flawed interpretation of a law they did not create.

And then there is East Renfrewshire Council's prioritisation of spending that does not mirror the priorities of the Council Tax payer. I am inundated by people complaining about the new landscaping and hanging baskets at Eastwood Toll when the money would be better spent on improving local roads or putting more police onto local streets when we need them most. Worse still they wasted a huge amount of money on some cobbles outside shops through Giffnock when local shopkeepers believe they could have spent it better and in a way that increased the number of people actually shopping locally. Possibly the best example of money wasting came recently when during a downpour Council workers were out watering plants in hanging baskets in front of shopkeepers who looked on incredulous to the very public waste of money none of their businesses would dare sustain.

I have numerous other examples of how lunatics are running the East Renfrewshire asylum at Eastwood Park and know people out there have many, many more examples to share. Thankfully, I believe there is a group of people capable of running the asylum sensibly, prudently and with a vision as to how East Renfrewshire Council could better serve local people. That is why I will be doing everything I can to support Councillor Jim Swift and his Conservative Group as they seek to build on their numbers and take control of East Renfrewshire's administration.

When any government body forgets who it serves there is surely cause for concern, but when the same body forgets time and time again it is surely time for, top down, route and branch reform.

Empower local people and they will get on with things and deliver fantastic results for their family, their neighbours and their local communities. Treat them with a lack of respect and they will do nothing for you. It is time for us all to stand up and be counted in the battle for common sense in the running of East Renfrewshire. I have great confidence in the ability of local people to win this fight and deliver a brighter future for us all.

It Was The Tories That Won It!

Would you believe it!

Just a few short days after I broke the news that Glasgow City Council were withholding £600,000 from East Renfrewshire Council, despite a legal judgement in December of last year awarding the cash to East Ren, and what do you know Glasgow pay up!

East Renfrewshire may have a Labour MP, a Labour MSP and a Labour led Council, but their combined efforts failed to persuade Labour led Glasgow City Council to return the £600,000 plus it owed East Renfrewshire for the provision of regular school placement requests.

I am not a great one for telling people what to think but if there is a moral to this story it is that "you can trust your East Renfrewshire Conservatives to look after the interests of local people while the Labour Party sit on the sidelines and do nothing!"

Glasgow owe East Ren £600,000 so why is no one within Labour doing anything for East Renfrewshire to secure our cash?

Regular readers of my blog will know I take a very simply view of life where I think matters are indeed simply. There tends to be a right and a wrong in most instances and nothing needs to take as long as bureaucrats seem to make them.

Thanks to some great work by Councillor Gordon McCaskill, local conservatives have discovered that Glasgow City Council owes East Renfrewshire Council a whole load of cash and simply aren't paying up because they don't feel like it. I press released this on Friday and copy this on my blog so everyone can see just how little Jim Murphy and the Labour Party are actually doing for the people of East Renfrewshire:

Glasgow City Council owes East Renfrewshire £600,000

Murphy inaction puts new special needs school on ice

Conservatives are calling on Labour led Glasgow City Council to return the £600,000 plus it owes East Renfrewshire Council Tax payers for services provided to people living in Glasgow. In particular the sum is owed for the provision of regular school education on placement requests and specialist schooling at Isobel Mair School for children with special needs.

East Renfrewshire Conservatives can reveal that a binding legal opinion was received by both Councils in December, but so far Glasgow has not returned the money (see notes to editors). As a result East Renfrewshire Council has had to postpone plans to build a new Isobel Mair School, which is one of only two schools in East Renfrewshire rated below B for structural condition.

Commenting on his findings Conservative Westminster candidate for East Renfrewshire, Richard Cook, said:

"Glasgow must pay up now so East Renfrewshire can build the new Isobel Mair School. For Glasgow to withhold this money is nothing short of scandalous.

"East Renfrewshire has a Labour MP, a Labour MSP and a Labour led council, but all continue to sit on their hands as their Labour colleagues in Glasgow withhold more than half a million pounds of East Renfrewshire taxpayers’ money.

"Instead of trying to manufacture political spats with the SNP and going on overseas junkets, East Renfrewshire’s MP and Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy should be fighting to get a fair deal from the Labour Party in Glasgow. Mr Murphy has had 3 months to use his influence to bring this stand-off to an end, but at the moment it seems he would rather be in China playing golf and taking boat trips to dinner with the great and the good.

"So the message to East Renfrewshire Labour is simple. Stop dithering, get this money from your Labour colleagues in Glasgow and give Isobel Mair pupils a new school now! It’s simply not acceptable for Labour in Glasgow to be bumping up its minimum wage to £7 per hour at the same time as it withholds money that would build a new school in East Renfrewshire for children with special needs."

Conservative Councillor for Netherlee, Stamperland and Williamwood, Gordon McCaskill, who has been working with Richard Cook on this investigation, added:

"I was aware that Glasgow’s Labour council had not paid us to educate their children for quite some time, but was not aware that the courts had found against them in December last year. Both councils kept that quiet! The money East Renfrewshire is owed would pay for the new Isobel Mair School, the building of which was postponed by the Labour led administration during this year’s budget process due to lack of funds.

"Isobel Mair School has a national reputation for excellence and I am not prepared to sit back and watch its pupils and staff suffer as a result of Glasgow City Council dragging its heels. This is Labour’s fiasco and it’s Labour’s job to bring it to an end, now."

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1. East Renfrewshire Conservatives are able to release today details of a judgement passed down by Lord Penrose on 12th December 2008, in relation to the case in the Court of Session of East Renfrewshire District Council against Glasgow City Council. This opinion relates to monies due to East Renfrewshire over many years totalling more than £350,000. The remaining monies due to East Renfrewshire relate to legal costs and interest payments awarded to East Renfrewshire Council.

2. East Renfrewshire's Labour led Council rejected the Conservative Groups budget amendment to start building the new Isobel Mair School this year. This requires capital of £152,000 in the forthcoming financial year and £444,000 next year.

When Is A Local Authority Not Local?

News that the Scottish Government are to review the number of Council's in Scotland and that Labour MSP Tom McCabe is proposing to significantly reduce the number of local authorities delivering vital local services is deeply concerning.

Those old enough to remember Strathclyde Regional Council will shudder at the thought of a new monster authority combining East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and East Ayrshire -as shown on the map of potential Council groupings published by The Herald.

If we need to fight, and win, a "Keep East Ren" campaign I and every local Conservative are ready to do so. Our economy is in crisis and leading politicians want to put us through the unnecessary expense of amalgamation and rebranding - not to mention making local government as remote as Holyrood, Westminster and Brussels. So bring it on SNP, Labour and any other group who want to make politics about bureaucracy and not about local people. I don't believe in large government and neither do ordinary people across the length and breadth of Scotland.

Cleaning Up!

Before Christmas a number of local residents alerted me to the condition of Glenville Lane in Giffnock. Like much of our local area, East Renfrewshire Council have done nothing to maintain this area, despite it being a vital right of way for local people and the route for their bin lorries, and as a result the lane is overgrown, dangerous and a potential risk to young and old alike.

Thanks to the efforts of Councillor Gordon Wallace and an ever increasing group of local residents, we are taking action to clean up this lane and get it back to a condition in keeping with the local area. Our local environment used to be a place people aspired to rather than something people aspired to make look better and I believe it is time for community action to show the Council that is failing us what we expect.

Helping Those Who Want To Work

Shadow Secretary of State for Works and Pensions, Chris Grayling MP, visited Edinburgh today to announce a whole range of measures Conservatives intend to take to help businesses stay afloat, to help individuals survive the recession and to help those who find themselves made unemployed get back to work as quickly as possible, should they win the next General Election.

A wide range of business organisations were present and I think they went away encouraged by the breadth and depth of proposals Chris put forward. It is clear that David Cameron and his team genuinely understand the pain people are feeling across the country and have a very positive and definite approach to helping those most in need.

To play my part, in East Renfrewshire I propose to set up a new "East Ren Jobs Club" as a self help and support group for those struggling in difficult economic times. Whether it is help with writing of a CV, tips on interviews or simply providing someone to listen to those frustrated by the length of time it takes to find a job the East Ren Jobs Club is something I can do to help minimise the impact of the recession on East Renfrewshire.

Happy New Year - But Only An Election Can Bring Hope to East Renfrewshire

2008 was a year of dramatic highs and lows. We witnessed great success for Team GB at the Olympic and Para-Olympics Games in Beijing but our economy took a very dramatic downturn and we enter 2009 facing a very deep recession and the prospect of a rapid increase in unemployment.

The problems we face are of course of our own and our Labour governments making. Individuals reliance on credit is borne partly out of our own greed but more significantly as a result of government policy. For years government statistics have pointed to our combined individual and state national debt rocketing to unsafe levels and yet government continued to encourage institutions and banks to lend lend lend. That the state now proposes to borrow massive sums to try and get us out of a recession caused by debt is truly staggering.

Here in East Renfrewshire we face a year in which our Labour led Council propose to invest massive sums of Council Tax money into pet political projects for which no real case can be made. Facing the loss of more than £1million in a high risk investment with a failed Icelandic Bank they now propose to spend more than £12.5million building a college in Barrhead despite their own figures showing the number of people attending adult eduction in Barrhead falling by more than 40% in recent years.

For me the answer to both local and national problems lies in political leadership. For years we have had local politicians who are seen at everything but ask yourself one simple question: what have they actually done for you or your family to make life better in East Renfrewshire? We need political leadership that will deliver spending on better roads and pavements, more police on local streets and a cleaner environment. These are the priorities of the people of East Renfrewshire and they are my priorities too!

East Renfrewshire, Scotland and the UK all need one thing to make them better - a General Election that delivers a new government. My mother always tells me the best things come to those who wait, but for me our country can't wait any longer for a new government and I hope 2009 brings us all the General Election we so richly deserve.

Cameron speaks Direct to East Renfrewshire

Watching David Cameron speak to 187 East Renfrewshire residents at the Carmichael Hall yesterday was a truly uplifting experience.

Without notes, David fielded questions from an audience made up largely of people who returned my recent constituency survey and who identified themselves as undecided voters, (oh and my Mum and Dad). Our audience included school children from across the constituency as well as a number of pensioners who had put the cost of living and fuel poverty as their top priority in their survey returns.

With questions including those best described as hostile, I am sure no one left able to accuse David of ducking a question or lacking substance. I am not sure that everyone got the answers they were necessarily looking for but I am sure they got the truth.

One moment of fun came in the form of a request rather than a question with a young man who came along with his father asked David to call his mother and wish her a "happy birthday", although he refused to divulge which birthday. As it happens I was with David later in the evening at dinner and he took time out between the starter and main course to call this lady and to wish her a happy birthday. I hope that made her day!

Bringing politics back to ordinary people is something I am sure would be welcomed by most local residents if they genuinely believed it was sincere. Yesterday I watched a man who believes in democracy and who is not scared to let people test his principles or his resolve. Cameron Direct is a blueprint for politics of the people in the 21st century and I am delighted David brought it to East Renfrewshire and proved its worth!

Back To The Future with the Scottish Futures Trust

Yesterdays announcement by John Swinney that he intends to fund all future public infrastructure projects with a new Scottish Futures Trust, to replace PFI and PPP, is at first glance to be welcomed. The trouble is that on deeper analysis it is clear there is no detail to his proposal and that the sole purpose of changing the method of funding is to prevent private companies from making profit.

The reality is that the public sector does not have construction divisions capable of building anything of significance and as a result if we want schools, hospitals and roads built we need to engage the private sector to deliver for Scotland.

Private sector companies will not, of course, work for no profit and will have to do one of two things if they are to satisfy Mr Swinney's criteria of "not for profit" build.

Either they will price jobs to show no profit by wildly inflating the cost of every item in a tender or they will all seek to act as subcontractors to a main contractor who makes no profit, while they make profits in the usual way. In other words the main contractor charges what they are charged by their subcontractors, not a penny more and not a penny less, but the subcontractors charge in the traditional way that has enabled them to make profits under PFI and PPP.

The uncertainty we face in the short term is very unhelpful, particularly when we desperately need new Barrhead and Eastwood High Schools. Yesterdays announcement is, therefore, a matter of regret and the message from East Renfrewshire must be "give us some certainty Mr Swinney and we will get on with making life better for the people who live here"!

More Violence Disrupts Our Community

It is becoming almost the norm to pick up the Glasgow South & Eastwood Extra and to find yourself confronted by yet another tale of violent crime in once peaceful East Renfrewshire.

This weeks edition, (July 31st 2008), details two serious assaults in the Thornliebank area over the course of the past week. In the more serious of the two incidents the victim remains in a stable condition at the Southern General Hospital and police are asking residents to come forward with information because they "would have heard the disturbance or the car driving off at high speed".

The thing that really strikes me about this report is that police believe local residents have information they are apparently not willing to volunteer. This is something that somehow does not seem surprising in today's society and yet in years gone by the thought of not doing ones public duty, by coming forward to give vital evidence to the police, would have seemed ridiculous.

So, how do we ensure our police and local communities become closer to one another? I believe this is as simple as continuous 'dialogue' and making the Police directly accountable to the communities they serve.

One vital first step toward better communication is getting more "campus cops" into our schools, so that young people grow up both seeing and communicating with police officers. The things you learn in your youth help shape your attitudes in later life and I can't believe our Labour led Council voted down the Conservative 2008 budget amendment that would have put more "campus cops" into East Renfrewshire's schools.

The second thing we should do, to improve society's attitude to helping police, is to make our police far more accountable to the people they serve. I have previously advocated, on this blog site, the election of Chief Constables, citing the experience of communities in the USA in support of this policy. I don't want our police to become politicised but I do want local people to know whether their Chief Constable shares their law and order priorities and I want them to be able to pass judgement on whether they believe their Chief Constable has succeeded in delivering better policing to their local area.

I don't believe local people don't want safer streets, better communities and to feel they are able to help their police. It seems to me our police are simply experiencing a crisis of confidence in their ability to effectively protect those willing to come forward with information and to improve the security of local neighbourhoods. I believe we must start a two way dialogue between police and community at an early age and continue this in later life by making our police accountable to their local communities. After all, we all have a vested interest in the success of our Police Force!

How Not To Help People With Chaotic Lifestyles!

East Renfrewshire Council's decision to open a hostel for "young people with chaotic lifestyles" in Council owned housing on Anderson Drive, Mearns Village, is now surely doomed to failure following its 100% rejection by local residents.

At a 'Public Meeting' held tonight in the Fairweather Hall around 140 people from the Mearns Village area turned out to voice their complete opposition to Council proposals to refurbish two blocks of housing on Anderson Drive, to install CCTV outside the complex and to put a 24 hour warden service into the buildings because the Council simply have not done anything to reassure local people that the people these blocks will house will not create even greater public disorder than they currently experience.

Councillor Jim Swift, Conservative Group Leader, rightly pointed out to local residents that he proposed extra policing for 'Hot Spots' in the evenings, 7 days a week - 52 weeks of the year, in his Council budget amendment and that this would have been a first step to addressing local concerns on crime, anti-social behaviour and youth disorder. The other three Councillors present tonight who voted against this amendment, without proposing any alternative to crime management, should hold their heads in shame for asking local people to give them suggestions as to what to do about anti-social behaviour emanating from Anderson Drive when they had the power to do something about it only weeks ago by voting for Jim's amendment.

Tonight we saw a exercise in local democracy that proves the people of East Renfrewshire still care about their local area. Well done to the people of Mearns Village - they can be assured of the support of their local Conservatives as they fight a bad plan for the wrong location!

Ireland Lead The Way In European Democracy

Well, I never would have imagined I would say this but, thank you Republic of Ireland for saving Great Britain from effective extinction!

Ireland's rejection of the EU Lisbon Treaty is quite simply a triumph for hundreds of millions of ordinary people across the rest of the European Union who have been denied a say on whether the European project is heading in the right direction by a bunch of arrogant, self-satisfying politicians - politicians who are so out of touch with public opinion that they simply don't understand we have had enough.

Earlier this year I organised the 'East Ren EU Choice' referendum in East Renfrewshire allowing the constituents of the Europe Minister, Jim Murphy MP, to voice their opinion of the EU Lisbon Treaty. They voted by 85% to 15% in favour of a binding UK-wide EU Lisbon Treaty Referendum, with a staggering 90% registering their intention to vote against ratification if they were allowed a vote.

I have no doubt that Jim will now tell the people of the UK that the Irish people have got it all wrong and that it is above ordinary people to understand the importance of ratifying this Treaty. I say that ordinary people across the whole of Europe are completely capable of making an educated decision on the merits of this Treaty and would overwhelmingly agree with the Irish people and say "NO", if only we were all allowed a vote.

Because, this Treaty is the EU Constitution that was overwhelmingly rejected by the French and Dutch people in 2005 by another name. It confers too many rights to unelected bureaucrats in Brussels and ends, once and for all, our nation states right to sovereign decision making through our domestic parliaments, ceding this right to Europe forever. 28 million British people of voting age have never been afforded an opportunity to vote on the type of Europe we want our country to be a part of and we deserve the right to record our opinion on this Treaty, (the EU Constitution by another name), as we were promised by our Labour government in the election manifesto they were elected on.

So thank you Ireland, you struck a blow today for ordinary people across the whole of Europe. We, like you, will hold our government to account for trying to enforce an EU Constitution on our country as soon as we get the chance - most probably at a General Election!

Happy 1st Birthday Jamie

When you spend your morning at a Conservative Party meeting, and follow this up with a street canvass, the last thing you think you want to attend is a friends child's first birthday party.

Anyway, enough about logic! The think about children is that they have an infectious ability to draw seemingly sensible adults into enjoyment of the atmosphere they create at a most basic of levels. While my friend's son, Jamie, simply enjoyed all that went on around him the children attending his party, (ranging from ages one to five), had a ball in Jamie's garden - running around, throwing things and acting with just a little mischief.

The innocence of youth!

As the day drew on, those of us who prefer to think of ourselves as nearer childhood than any age of responsibility gradually found ourselves joining in with the children's fun and frolics and yet, as I watched this happy group of children play, I could not help feeling very contrasting mixed emotions of wanting desperately to be hopeful for their futures while looking at all they have to face in today's Britain with great concern.

My fear for Jamie, and his young friends, is that our Labour governments current social and economic policies will not afford them the happy eighteenth birthdays they will so richly deserve. So, if anything, today has made me even more determined to pursue my passion for politics and to ensure East Renfrewshire's children have the bright future I believe they are entitled to. Perhaps one day I will look back on today and conclude that it was for Jamie and his generation that the country called time on Labour and asked the Conservatives to map out a positive future from which they will prosper!

"Extra" Crime Stats Show A Worrying Picture

When, week after week after week, the Eastwood and Southside Extra leads on violent crime in our local area it is clear we have a problem our political leaders need to do something about!

This week, (5th June 2008), the Extra's lead headline is "Park: Out Of Bounds", following the brutal murder of a local woman in Queen's Park, an area the Extra go on to describe as "still a no-go area a week after the discovery of (the victims) partially-clothed body". Last week, (29th May 2008), the lead headline was "Blade Terror", after an armed robbery at Harvie Avenue Post Office, and a couple of weeks earlier they led with "A Party To Trouble", with the story detailing four assaults on youngsters in Overlee Park, Clarkston.

I know that crime is a local priority because East Renfrewshire Council's own Citizens Panel, (made up of 1,000 local people), say that being free from crime in our communities should be East Renfrewshire's No.1 priority.

So why, you may ask, do so many people believe crime blights our local society when local crime statistics generally indicate a drop in crime? The simple truth is that low level crime, things like graffiti and loutish behaviour by local youths, now go unreported because we all believe our Police are overstretched and will be unable to do anything about it. Oh, and even if someone is actually caught in the act they will have been taught their rights under ECHR at school and will probably use this to get a simple caution and avoid prosecution.

So when it comes to a broken garage window or a scratched car door very few people now report any offence preferring instead to look for an easy life and avoid a whole load of paperwork and just repair any damage so they don't lose their no claims discount.

You can read about Labour's failure to tackle violent in our newspapers and you can see their failure to address low level crime on junction boxes, bus stops and shop fronts every day. Our own MP, Jim Murphy, is happy to be seen in the Extra at any event going, and those he creates to generate a photo opportunity, but where is he when we need a local champion against crime across East Renfrewshire?

Crime costs us all dear, whether this be in terms of increased insurance premiums or the increasing cost to our NHS of treating those injured by violent crime. So, like the good people of East Renfrewshire, crime is my No.1 Priority at every level. The difference is that crime is something I will actually do something about!

Freescale Job Losses Are A Disaster For Our Local Economy

Today's announcement that Freescale is to close its semiconductor manufacturing plant in East Kilbride, (the old Motorola factory), with the loss of 750 skilled manufacturing jobs and many additional redundancies in associated supply companies, really is a disaster for our local economy.

For many years, I worked with a dedicated management team at this site to design a state of the art waste management and recycling solutions at this factory. Having done so I know the importance of Freescale to so many associate companies in the service sector, companies who supply goods and services to Freescale, and before it Motorola, and suspect that the true scale of the impact of this announcement is still to be fully realised by the media and public alike.

I fear the full extent of today's announcement will not be fully understood until the plant finally closes, with the inevitable loss of jobs this brings both to Freescale personnel and to those businesses who have been reliant on servicing this site to sustain their core business.

Our Labour government proves itself completely inept once again at retaining vital manufacturing business within the UK, exactly the type of business that creates new wealth which enables the State to proposer from tax revenues it can then invest into improved local services from which we all benefit.

So many people in East Renfrewshire work directly or indirectly to Freescale - I truly hope they all find suitable alternative employment and can assure them I empathise with them at this very difficult time.

A Beautiful Day for an Action Day

Not a cloud in the sky and a full squad of Conservative leafleters hit the streets of Newton Mearns, in 70 degree plus heat, to spread the word. 'No complacency here' is today's mantra from my campaign team, so our leaflets are fronted by Councillor Barbara Grant and Councillor Jim Swift telling everyone what the Conservative Council Group proposed to do in its cost neutral budget amendment earlier this year.

Two new 'Campus Cops'; Four additional Police Officers on the beat patrolling trouble spots in the evening - 7 days a week, 52 weeks of the year; a 50% increase to the budget for resurfacing and patching of our crumbling roads and pavements network. Those are the priorities of the people of East Renfrewshire and those are the priorities of local Conservatives too.

For my part I am disgusted by the decision of the Community Health Care Partnership not to provide a Health Centre to Newton Mearns and the back page of our leaflet outlines my reasons in some detail. Newton Mearns is the largest commuter suburb in Scotland and the largest conurbation in East Renfrewshire and yet it is the most remote place in Scotland when it comes to accessing the NHS. Combine the lack of local NHS facility with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde's decision to move hospital services from the Victoria Infirmary to the Southern General and the people of Newton Mearns truly are the people who pay most and get least when it comes to the tax they pay providing them with an accessible NHS. Oh and when you get to a hospital now you also have to pay their 'car park tax'.

Finally, we are giving formal notice of my intention to launch a campaign to take graffiti "OFF THE WALL". Yet more survey returns this morning from the Clarkston area place 'Youth Disorder/Graffiti' as the number one priority of local people so it is vital we are proactive in improving our local area.

It's a beautiful day to have an Action Day and a great day to be a champion for East Renfrewshire! I really cannot thank all those who have turned out today enough for their loyal support and I look forward to repaying the trust they are showing in me as we campaign towards the next General Election.