Salmond's SNP Folly!

It is not completely unheard of for a politician or a political party to make one mistake, but it is pretty rare to have one party make two big mistakes in one day!

Alex Salmond's claim that Scotland should adopt the Euro because Sterling is "sinking like a stone" completely misses the point. Scotland is in trouble not because our currency is weak or strong. We are in trouble because Labour's economic policy have led us to disaster and diverting public attention from this is simply letting Labour off the hook. Indeed, the only reason Sterling has devalued so massively against other currencies is our Labour Governments decision to print so much extra cash to pump into the banking system and as other countries follow suit Sterling has recovered slightly in recent days to more than £1 - €1.10 tonight from near parity a few days ago.

The second display of stupidity from the SNP today was the rejection of the Conservatives offer of talks on how to fund the new Forth road crossing. For a party who claims to want the best for Scotland to act is such a narrow minded way on an infrastructure project of such importance to the economy of Scotland is simply staggering.

If Alex Salmond wants the SNP to work for the people of Scotland he must stop the politics of gripe and division and work with everyone who has Scotland's best interests at heart. That is what difficult economic times demand of us all.

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.

David Cameron Giving A Little Bit To Those Who Need It Most - And Setting An Example To Those Who Need One Most!

When David Cameron announced new economic policy today I believe it was very much about doing two vital things.

First of all his announcement that everyone who is a basic tax payer will not pay any tax on interest derived from savings gives those who have been prudent a little more in their pockets as a reward for doing what is right and saving. The same applies to his proposal to increase the tax allowance of pensioners by an additional £2,000 as it is people on fixed incomes who suffer most when interest rates plummet.

Secondly his announcement sends a message to everyone that there is a real difference between Labour and the Conservatives. Labour believe the State should spend more, put everyone into unprecedented levels of debt and innocent bystanders who suffer as a result of government policy are an acceptable casualty. David Cameron believes that the State should reward those who have done the right thing in order to demonstrate, to those who have not, that saving and not spending excessively is the best way to a successful country and economy.

So many East Renfrewshire pensioners have told me that income from interest on savings they had been relying on has dried up and that they feel it is immoral that the State demand they pay tax on interest on money they paid tax on when it was genuine income. I have always agreed with this and will happily campaign alongside David Cameron for those on the lowest levels of income and pensioners on fixed incomes to be exempt from paying tax on their savings. Britain must be a fair country if its economy is to recover and in David Cameron we have a leader who clearly understands what needs to be done.

Labour Are Ruining The Only Union That Really Matters!

It isn't Labour's arrogance that is ruining the Union. Nor is it simply their complacency. It is undoubtedly a combination of all the above, and their failure to provide any real leadership in promoting the benefits of our relationship with England, Northern Ireland and Wales, that is doing so much damage and placing the Union at risk.

Who can forget the claims of the Labour Party in Scotland that devolution would "kill nationalsim stone dead". George Robertson used to preach this mantra as Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland in some sort of false belief that is you say something often enough it will always come true. Those of us who predicted the exact opposite, that devolution would give the SNP their best ever opportunity of moving Scotland towards Independence (effectively using it as a stepping stone) take no pleasure in having been proven right by events.

The SNP are not some sort of amateurish band of country bumpkins incapable of capitalising on gift horses. They are a very well disciplined and ruthless bunch of politicians who are as capable of being opportunistic as any other political organisation in Scotland.

As the current Secretary of State for Scotland, Jim Murphy is falling in to the very same trap as his Labour predecessors in attacking the SNP instead of making devolution work by establishing protocols and conventions that enable the Scottish Parliament to work with Westminster when the administrations of each are of different political persuasions! At the same time he writes blandly in newspapers about Scotland's strength being attributed to its place in the United Kingdom without establishing in print what this actually means.

Where are the statistics that prove more than 70% of all Scottish exports go to other parts of the UK? Where are the examples of Scots working to the benefit of the rest of the UK? Where are the references to the benefits that Scotland get from remaining an integral part of the United Kingdom? Because all this matters to the ordinary people of Scotland and the UK.

For me the Union is a marriage of four very capable countries who realise they are better off united by the common land and common principles their people share. It is only right to tell your partner what it is you do for them and to acknowledge their role in improving and fulfilling your life. Ask any salesman and he will tell you it is easier to sell the positives of your own brand than to decry the products and claims of your opponents. So why do unionist politicians continuously slate the case for Scottish Independence rather than sell the benefits of remaining part of the United Kingdom?

The failure of the Labour Party, and Jim Murphy, to make a positive case for the Union continues to put our countries long term future in doubt and that is something I, and the Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party, must fight to ensure we champion.

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.

Invisible Labour!

Debating at Glasgow University Student Debating Society tonight was a real fun experience.

The SNP, Lib Dems and event the SSP sent along Party representatives to put forward their own and their parties views on issues ranging from President Elect Obama to whether Scotland would be better off being independent while ceding power to the EU than it is part of the Union with power ceded to Westminster.

The one thing missing from tonight was , you may have noticed, the Labour Party. Despite being contacted time and again by organisers to arrange for them to be represented not one reply, even of acknowledgement, was forthcoming from a Party that is clearly no longer in touch with public concern.

I thoroughly enjoyed pitting my wits against some decent people prepared to be held to account by the public who they hope will elect them. It's only a pity the UK's governing Party don't believe they should be subjected to the same sort of interrogation so they can be held accountable for their actions!

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!

Basic Arithmetic Tells You These Numbers Don't Add Up!

Unemployment in Scotland rose by 19,000 in the last quarter, according to the governments preferred measure, to 124,000. But here's where you see, yet again, why the public mistrust government statistics so much.

On the same quarter last year today's figures represent an increase of 2,000 on the corresponding unemployment figure for last year and yet the governments own statistics for the number of people employed in Scotland fell by 10,000 over the corresponding period.

While depopulation, an increase to the number of people retiring and some people going back to retrain may account for some of this difference so many of us have anecdotal stories to tell of family, friends and friends of friends who have lost their job in Scotland as our economy falls into recession and this yet again reinforces the old adage - "lies damn lies and statistics".

The cheery words of our Secretary of State for Scotland, designed I am sure to reassure us that we have little to worry about, simply do not cut it when you have a mortgage to pay and can see the prospect of unemployment on the horizon. It is time for government to set ordinary businesses free to create prosperity and secure jobs by giving them an amnesty on red tape and cutting business taxes so that they have money to invest in their employees.

UK Plc is perfectly capable of making a go of things in difficult times if government leave us alone and give us the tools to do so!

New Secretary of State - Same Old Labour!

I am sure Jim Murphy's promotion to Secretary of State for Scotland is a reward for his loyalty to a Party and a Government that has let East Renfrewshire, Scotland and the whole of the United Kingdom down.

Mr Murphy has long been an integral part of this Labour government, but that has not prevented his constituents in East Renfrewshire suffering in the same way as the rest of our country. Hard pressed local families and individuals are being taxed as never before at the very same time as government policy, conceived and delivered by his boss, hits them hardest.

I look forward to continuing to campaign against Mr. Murphy and to seeing how he intends to defend Labour’s record of failure. Scotland has a long tradition of booting our its Secretary of State for Scotland at the ballot box and I intend to make sure this continues by letting the people of East Renfrewshire know just exactly what a David Cameron Conservative government will do for them - in contrast to the prospect of more of the same from the Labour government who got us into this mess!

Tackling The Scourge Of Drugs

Today's announcement that Police in Scotland have seized more than £20 million of drugs over the past 12 months and arrested 49 of our most "serious and dangerous" criminals is most welcome.

Combine the success of our Police with our new drugs strategy based on abstinence, adopted by the Scottish Executive after it was first advocated and then demanded by Annabel Goldie MSP, and you have the start of a process I believe will radically alter the publics perception of politicians attitude to tackling illegal drug use and abuse.

Not before time too. We must be seen to be coming down hard on the criminals who push drugs onto the vulnerable and at the same time to be offering a positive option to those who seek to get themselves off drugs once and for all. With a little bit of luck and faith in our people, I am sure we are about to see an end to the drugs culture in Scotland that has been so damaging to communities over recent years!

Perspective

With all the doom and gloom in our economy and the troubles of the Prime Minister and his Government it is all to easy to forget the things that really matter. On every level - family, friends and the well being of local people are all far more important that the machinations of political parties.

The death of a Enya Doohan from Clarkston, to a mystery illness, at just 5 years of age, gives me a sense of perspective and ones heart can only go out to the family and friends of a little girls described as 'delightful' by her school.

Politics is important but not as important as life itself and I think we would all do well to remember that!

Loss Of Bank Of Scotland Is A Travesty!

I believe in the free market and in the right of individuals to work hard and to prosper as a result of their hard work. But the shenanigans surrounding the purchase of Halifax Bank of Scotland by Lloyd's TSB leave me thinking our Government and their financial regulatory structures leave a lot to be desired.

Today we discovered that Gordon Brown personally knew that HBoS was in talks to be bought out by Lloyd's TSB a week ago and took personal control of ensuring the regulatory authorities approved the purchase given the current economic climate and despite potential monopolies concerns.

Knowing all this the Prime Minister then did nothing to stop the run on the banks shares over the past few days even though he knew there was no cause for concern about the banks liquidity. This means he knew that those attacking HBoS shares were doing so in order to make large "personal" financial gains and given the coordinated and sustained nature of trading he must have suspected there may have been an element of insider knowledge attached to these sales.

The loss of the Bank of Scotland brand from UK high streets and to Scotland's corporate and social life is a disaster. Scotland's second largest company had the right to expect our Government would protect them from unwarranted attack, but Government and its regulators let HBoS down. It's time for a Government who believes in protecting our great Institutions and that ensures fairness across our economy - clearly that rules the current Government out!

Sarah Palin - Superstar!

The emergence of Sarah Palin as the invigorating force in the Republican campaign for President of the United States of America is as welcome as it was surprising. For too long I think we all expected Barack Obama to walk to victory as he portrayed John McCain as another 4 years of failed Bush administration policies and McCain appeared incapable of repelling such suggestions for fear of alienating his Party's core support.

Today we find swing State after swing State warming to the McCain-Palin ticket as it expresses a desire to win and to bring change to Washington by presenting two politicians who have in their own way and fields already affected proper change in their jurisdictions.

And the reaction from the Obama campaign? To engage in the sort of negative campaign techniques that many thought he stood against and was more likely to be subject to than an advocate of.

So it's clearly game on in the race to become the 44th President of the United States of America and so much the better for all those sad political hacks, (like me), who will be glued to every press statement, opinion poll and results programme from now till 5th November!

Whose To Blame For The Condition Of Scottish Prisons?

Would you believe it!

Having suffered 11 years of Labour blaming their predecessor Conservative administration for absolutely everything that is wrong in Scotland, and across the UK, would you believe it, now the SNP are lining up to do the same.

Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill, reckons it is down to the last Conservative government that our jails are in "a dire state". Apparently the Labour government that filled in the gap between Conservative and SNP governance of Scotland are not to blame for failing to invest into prisons during their time in office, or indeed for having stopped Conservative investment plans on coming to power in 1997.

Give us a break Kenny and stop looking for an excuse to point fingers at the Conservatives for spurious reasons. If you're not up to the job of sorting our Scotland's jails let us know and we'll happily take over and show you how its done!

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"!

Justice Must Serve Society!

With Barlinnie full to bursting, SNP Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill is suggesting we put prisoners out to work on major infrastructure projects, including build programmes associated with the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Restorative justice is something I would normally support, however I suspect today's announcement has more to do with a complete failure to deal with prisoner numbers and not a tough new approach to what criminals should be required to do to pay for their crimes against society.

I believe criminals should be put to work for the communities they have offended, but nor if this puts people into communities who fear their involvement. Building sites can be dangerous places with dangerous tools and equipment and the thought of letting prisoners out on day release with access to potential weapons is something we need to guard against.

If this proposal is indeed about finding ways to reduce the prison population I have news for Mr MacAskill. The Scottish people want its government to stand up for them and to build new prisons if that is what it takes to make prison a deterrent to crime.

Court sentences should mean what they say! One year should mean you serve one year; Life should mean you serve life etc. And if this means prisoner numbers rise in the short term as we keep dangerous people incarcerated while we educate them not to re-offend then we should build the prisons necessary to keep our law abiding majority safe.

Give Us A Break Gordon!

Today's newspapers are full of the Prime Minister promising to tackle the countries big problems in the same way as he has overcome big challenges in his own personal life.

No one has more admiration for the way Gordon Brown has tackled his partial blindness than me. As someone who was so active in sport at a young age the loss of sight in one eye and the partial loss of sight in the other must have been devastating. It takes someone of particular character and courage to be able to put this aside and battle to achieve in other fields and Gordon Brown's achievements, both academic and political, speak for themselves.

Nevertheless to be making claims of preparedness to take action in tough economic times and to be feeling our pain leave us with one big question. Where have you and your government been for the past 12 months?

The 10p tax debacle was of your doing, the credit crunch and failure to deal properly with Northern Rock was of your doing and the fact that inflation is crippling households and need an interest rate rise when the housing market needs an interest rate cut is of your doing.

It is very admirable to give us kind words and big promises but it you do want to help us there is something you could do for us NOW - CALL AN ELECTION!

Local Income Tax - A Disincentive To Work Hard And Do Well!

The SNP's proposed abolition of Council Tax to be replaced by a Local Income Tax is quite simply another disincentive to work hard and do well.

No one likes paying tax, unless they have to, but today's proposal by the Scottish Executive to pay for local services based on a supposed ability to pay means that, for the same Council services, two households beside one another might be faced with one paying nothing for their bins to be picked up, their streets to be lit and their libraries to be open while their next door neighbours pay £3,000 a year to receive the exact same services, based on a combined household income of £100,000.

And this of course assumes that the 3 pence in the every pound level mooted by the SNP is actually sustainable. Glasgow City Council calculates that at 3% a Local Income Tax would leave them with a shortfall of £133 million on current budgets - in other words to maintain current expenditure Local Income Tax would have to increase by 50% to 4.5%. Here, in East Renfrewshire, I believe that with our extremely high percentage of population that is either old or young our expenditure, in what is a relatively small local authority, is pretty big per head of population and we too would have to seek to raise the level of Local Income Tax just to be able to maintain the standard of our schools and other services.

And whenever you raise a tax on a regional basis you also find a large number of people who seek to avoid paying that tax. For example, with Corporation Tax in the UK higher than that in the Republic of Ireland a number of large companies have moved their head offices from London to Dublin to take advantage of the tax break this provides. In the case of Local Income Tax, I wonder how many people will register for tax purposes in England, Wales or Northern Ireland to avoid paying a Scottish Local Income Tax were it to be introduced.

In summary, the SNP's Local Income Tax proposal is poorly thought through, will lead to inequities in payment for local services in local communities and will undoubtedly not be paid by those who can afford to find ways of avoiding it. All this would be damaging to the social cohesion of Scotland and potential ruinous to our economy. That is why we must all oppose its introduction and leave no stone unturned until it is consigned to the political scrapheap.

Emergency Housing Measures A Waste Of Time

The CBI describe them as "largely symbolic". The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors say "the Government has failed to listen to the property industry". The Council of Mortgage Lenders say "it is questionable whether it will incentivise buyers who wouldn't have entered the market anyway". And senior figures in the property industry call them "a political sticking plaster" that won't make "one iota of difference".

So why has the Government rushed through a £1.6 billion package of measures for the housing industry that no one seems to think really address the route cause of the current housing downturn?

Quite simply, it is because they don't understand the reasons for the current downturn and have insufficient funds left in the pot to really help out now we are experiencing 'a rainy day'.

And the one thing missing from yesterdays announcement? How are Chancellor Alastair Darling and Prime Minister Gordon Brown proposing to pay for this state handout? The mind boggles when you consider the irresponsibility of it all!

Cervical Cancer Vaccination Programme A Welcome Event

There is nothing worse than hearing a loved one has cancer, particularly when the technology exists to stop it taking hold.

Yesterday, Abronhill High in Cumbernauld made history by becoming the first Scottish school to administer the new Cervarix vaccine to 90 girls, as part of a UK-wide programme that will see 90,000 young girls receive the vaccination this month.

The jab works by targeting the human papilloma virus, the virus that causes about 70% of cases of cervical cancer that kills more than 1,000 women in the UK each year.

This is the first mass anti-cancer vaccination programme in UK medical history and a great day to celebrate the advances in medical research we too often take for granted. As schools across the UK go back over the next 4 or 5 weeks we should all take great pride in the investment made to develop treatments that protect us from illness as well as those that help cure us if we fall ill.

So thank you to all those in our National Health Service and medical research laboratories who are doing so much to help keep us safe!