SNP launch campaign for high speed rail link

Gemma Mackenzie and Martin Graham

Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson MSP visited Glasgow Central Station to launch a campaign for the High Speed Rail Link to be extended from London all the way to Glasgow.
He was joined by Glasgow SNP candidates Osama Saeed, John Mason MP, Malcolm Fleming and Patrick Grady.
Last month, the Government announced plans for the rail link which would extend from London to Birmingham. If the link was extended as far as Glasgow it would reduce the journey time from 4.5 hours to 3.5 hours.
The minister explained that there was a clear need to move people from air travel to train travel.
He said: ‘We currently have seven million journeys a year from Scotland to London, only one million of these are by train. There are clear advantages in terms of the boost for jobs and the economy.’
The first part of the plan for 120 miles of new rail line between London and the West Midlands would cost between £15.8bn and £17.4bn. Work is due to commence on the project in 2017.

Holyrood says no as Scottish Greens call for £7-per-hour minimum wage

The Scottish Parliament voted against Scottish Green Party calls for a £7-per-hour living wage across Scotland.
The SNP, Conservative and Lib Dem MSPs instead voted for a Lib Dem amendment which was less committal to the £7 level.
The £7 per-hour rate is the figure recommended by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and backed by the Poverty Alliance, who point out that one in five Scots working in the public sector do not receive this rate.
In this city there already exists a minimum wage – all be it a non-compulsory one. The Glasgow Living Wage was launched by Glasgow City Council in March 2009. It set a new guaranteed minimum standard of income for all council workers, set at £7 an hour.
A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: ‘The introduction of the living wage increased the basic salary of the lowest paid council workers by up to £1100 a year.
‘As well as the clear financial benefits for employees, research has shown that the introduction of a living wage in other parts of the UK has provided employees with more job satisfaction.
‘It is clear that improving rates of pay for low-paid workers can have a significant impact on the city’s efforts to tackle poverty and worklessness.’
Scottish Green Party Leader Patrick Harvie accused the politicians who voted against the motion at Holyrood of hypocrisy.
He said: ‘All the other parties at Holyrood spoke out today against inequality, but then SNP, Tory and Lib Dem MSPs voted against the Green call for a £7 an hour national minimum wage.
‘Far too many Scots still have to get by on wages below this basic level, including one in five of all public sector staff in Scotland, and it’s just not good enough.’

Win Win Win!!!! Five copies of Glasgow – City Beautiful

To receive a copy of John McDermott’s exquisite book – Glasgow City Beautiful – is to fall in love with this amazing city. The candid photographs from this professional photographer, reveal fine detail that is lost in the hustle and bustle of every day. His outreach with his camera extends from the Antonine Wall in Bearsden to the St Andrew’s Bridge at Glasgow Green.  Published by Derby Books Publishing Company Ltd – tel: 01332 384235 and email:sales@dbpublishing.co.uk, they sell for around £9.99. The LOCAL NEWS has five copies of this visual delight of a book to give away. For your chance to win one, just tell us: who took the photographs in Glasgow City Beautiful? Answers by 9am Tuesday 1 June to CITY BOOK COMP, Local News Glasgow, Yam Publications Ltd, 73 Robertson Street, Glasgow G2 8QD  or by email with CITY BOOK COMP in the subject box – to: competitions@localnewsglasgow.co.uk

Players wanted

The Jimmy Johnstone Football Academy is looking for players born after 1998 to add firepower to their Under 12s squad.

Based at the Toryglen Football Centre, the academy’s U12s want to hear from youngsters across the city.

The organisation, set up in honour of the legendary Celtic player who died of Motor Neurone disease in 2006 aged 62, has nearly a dozen coaches running teams from Under 7s to 16s. The academy player pool is 200 strong.

The U12s train at Toryglen on Thursday evenings between 6pm and 8pm. Any budding players should contact coach Gary O’Rourke on 07946 390 387 or check website: www.jimmyjohnstoneacademy.com

Happy Sacred Hearts

By Colin Mackie

Sacred Heart Primary School in Bridgeton formally opened their new Literacy Centre set up with a £10,000 ‘Awards for All’ grant from the National Lottery.
Local Councillor George Redmond took great pride in cutting the ribbon to mark the opening of the centre and presenting the much-needed cheque. As it was near World Book Day, pupils were dressed in costumes depicting their favourite book characters.
Mrs Liz Gonzalez, Head Teacher, commented: ‘For teachers it’s an educational triumph when a child learns how to read. And for parents, it’s a great feeling of satisfaction when their child reads to them. That’s how a community changes and our children become good citizens and helpful people in the community.’
She added: ‘ We connect with the world through literature and literacy. Through this literacy centre we want to have effective partnership working which will make a difference to the quality of support for our learners.  We want our links with the community to enrich our children’s learning and improve their achievements.’
One of the first of many spin-offs from the Literacy Centre is a project involving a selection of pupils and their families, working together with the teachers to create a guide book for visitors to Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games.
Grant funding totalling £2,195,300 is being given out by the National Lottery’s small grants scheme, Awards for All, to 312 organisations across Scotland. They range from community groups and schools, to charities,sports clubs, arts projects and heritage schemes.

Bomb-scare at Strathclyde University

Students from Stathclyde University have been leaving messages on facebook about a bomb-scare in their library.
The Curran building, which houses the library, was temporarily closed following an alarm today.
It is understood that a message on one of the desks read: ‘A bomb has been planted and you are all going to die on the 30th at 1.30 pm.’
The police – who have sent sniffer dogs to the scene – have yet to confirm the nature of the disturbance.
Students and staff were asked to leave the building following an alarm that went off just after 9.30am this morning.
At lunchtime today we spoke to 20-year-old Jack McKay, a student of history and politics, who was waiting to get back into the university.
He said: ‘After the alarm sounded a woman came round and told us to leave the building immediately.
And Jack’s friend, Ian Young, a 21-year-old law student, joked: ‘Normally we wouldn’t mind being put off from studying but the exams are coming up.’
A spokeswoman for the University confirmed: ‘The Curran building has been evacuated as a precautionary measure only, and we are working with police to help them with their investigations.
‘We are working to keep staff and students fully informed and to provide them with alternative working and study space. We hope to re-open the building as soon as possible.’
The building reopened at 3pm for staff and students, we await comment from the police.

Keyboard wizard Chris set for Pollokshaws appearance

The Scottish Cinema Organ Trust (SCOT) will present a concert featuring the Mighty Wurlitzer cinema pipe organ at Pollokshaws Burgh Hall on Sunday May 23, 2010 at 2.45pm.
May’s celebrity guest player is Chris Powell. Chris is a celebrated performer playing concerts by invitation throughout the UK and overseas and is well known for his Blackpool style which he developed while he was resident at the Tower Ballroom.
Tickets for the concert are £6.00 each and are available from Pollokshaws Burgh Hall, telephone 0141 632-5811.

Before then, there is a wonderful use of the Wurlitzer on Sunday 2 May at 2.45pm when the regular silent movie club in the Pollokshaws Burgh Hall shows the Hunchback of Notre Dame with the backing music provided by the magnificant pipe organ.

Rosette mix up at Langside Hustings

By Martin Graham

Around 150 people filled a hall at the David Cargill Centre on Ledard Road to hear six political candidates outline their views and policy positions for the forthcoming Westminster election on May 6.
The event was organised by Langside Parish Church, who are currently using the David Cargill Centre as a base until their own church across the road is rebuilt following a fire.
With Minister David McLachlan chairing the event, the panel members were; Brian Smith – Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition. Brian is a social worker and Unison rep from Castlemilk; Malcolm Fleming – SNP – Malcolm works for an international aid agency and lives in Shawlands; Shabnum Mustapha – Lib Dem – Shabnum works for a disability charity and lives in Shawlands; Davena Rankin – Conservative – Davena is a manager and Unison rep at Glasgow Caledonian University; Marie Campbell – Green – Marie works for Patrick Harvie MSP; Tom Harris MP – Labour – Tom is the sitting MP, and has held the seat since June 2001.
Each candidate spoke well, with Tom Harris in particular holding forth on his own views and making clear the difference between his opinions and the rest of the panel.
Questions from the floor provided good opportunities for the panel to expand on their answers and develop their views. It became apparent that in terms of policy, there was little to differentiate the parties.
The first question sought the panel’s views on Trident replacement – the £20bn plans to replace the submarines, missiles and warheads which make up the UK’s nuclear deterrent.
All candidates except Tom Harris and Davena Rankin spoke against Trident. The panel said that it was illegal, immoral and unnecessary.
Shabnum Mustapaha spoke in favour of a strategic defence review.
Tom Harris said that Trident may not be necessary for today but that we could not leave future generations without defences. He said that it was difficult to judge the situation from the comfort which Trident provided.
Marie Campbell stated that the money would be better spent on sustainable jobs, and Brian Smith said that our children would be pleased that we had got rid of Trident as it only encourages nuclear ambition in other countries.
The next question for consideration was immigration policy. Chairman David McLachlan explained about the Citizens for Sanctuary campaign pledge which each candidate was asked to sign. The pledge states that asylum seekers should be treated humanely, not locked up, and have the right to contribute to the UK while here, through working.
Tom Harris said that he would not sign the pledge as it would send a message that the UK is a soft touch and that relatively large sums of money could be earned by anyone coming here. All other candidates signed the pledge on the night.
Malcolm Fleming stated that most asylum seekers are genuine and that there were genuine ‘push factors’ which led to people seeking asylum in the UK, like the conflict in Somalia.
Malcolm said: ‘The Labour government is a disgrace and the word asylum is now a term of abuse. People arrive with skills then lose them because they cannot practice them.’
Davena Rankin committed to signing the pledge, saying :’The way we treat asylum seekers is a reflection on our society. Only 20-30,000 people per year seek asylum, and Dungavel is a disgrace.
Shabnum Mustapha said: ‘We should deport failed asylum seekers quickly. We have a proud tradition of welcoming refugees, and the UK is 17th in the list of developed countries for receiving refugees.’
Tom Harris said that it was a tough choice between locking up families together with their children or separating them. He had spoken to the Home Office about people spending too long in Dungavel before deportation.
Davena Rankin said: ‘The current asylum system is unfair, there are other ways to prepare families for departure, such as supported accommodation flats.’
At this point, an audience member asked if the Labour and Tory candidates had got their rosettes mixed up.
The candidates were asked what they would do to ensure climate change remained on the political agenda.
Shabnum Mustapha outlined LibDem plans to convert shipyards to make wind and wave power equipment. Davena Rankin confirmed Tory opposition to a third runway at Heathrow.
Malcolm Fleming explained how the SNP had implemented climate change legislation at Holyrood. Marie Campbell stated that the Greens would use the opportunity to rebuild society on a sustainable basis and overcome poverty in the process.
Brian Smith said: ‘Capitalism is the problem because resources are used in an unplanned system where growth is the only measure of success. We need a global perspective to overcome poverty. The Copenhagen climate conference failed because of China’s capitalist ambitions.’
Marie Campbell said that climate capture technology was largely unproved and that nuclear technology is expensive and unsafe.
One audience member raised the issue of potholes. All panel members agreed that the issue needed to be resolved.
Shabnum Mustapha suggested planting flowers in the holes, while Aileen Campbell pointed out that money spent on expensive projects like the Forth Bridge replacement and the M74 extension could be better used to repair the local road network.
Finally, the issue of banks was put to the panel. The Greens and Lib Dems favoured separating  High Street banks from investment banks, with the Green favouring a ‘Robin Hood’ tax on bank profits to be re-invested in social enterprises.
The SNP candidate pointed out that the other G7 countries were still practising fiscal stimulus while the UK had stopped.
Brian Smith spoke in favour of a socially planned economy with banks in public ownership. Davena Rankin spoke in favour of regulating the banking sector, without the ‘light touch’ approach which created so many problems in recent years.
Towards the end, Malcolm Fleming quoted Scottish trade union legend Jimmy Reid, who said: ‘I didn’t leave the Labour Party, the party left me.’

Toryglen blossoms in the sun

In sharp contrast to last year, Toryglen’s Blossom Festival on Saturday 24 April basked in warm sunshine which attracted around 600 people who enjoyed the multitude of green and environmentally friendly activities.
Part of Urban Roots’ promotion to empower people to ‘do stuff’ for the environment, it included food demonstrations from the ‘let’s cook together’ group, pedal powered Scalextric, solar powered musicians, storytelling for kids, circus skills, youth eco drama performance, willow weaving, environmental art works, and planter boxes made from scrap wood and filled with flowers and fruit cuttings provided by King’s Park Gardening Club.
‘This was a fantastic day. Much better than last year,’ said local Councillor Danny Alderslowe who demonstrated willow weaving and whose children had a field day.
SNP Councillor Jahangir Haif took the opportunity to introduce Osama Saeed, his party’s parliamentary candidate for Glasgow Central,  to some of his constituents attending the Blossom Festival.  SNP’s Bailie James Scanlon was also spotted enjoying himself with his grandchild.
Said Abi Mordin, Urban Roots co-ordinator who was responsible for organising the day: ‘ Everyone seems to have had a good time. The sunny weather helped a lot.’

Quiet heroes come home

The Scottish medics who staffed the Military Field Hospital in Afghanistan for the past three months, returned home to their Govan base on Monday 26 April.
After four days of travelling and de-briefing, the weary Territoral Army personnel arrived around midnight to be embraced by relieved families and friends. While glasses of champagne were awaiting them, most settled for a cup of tea, a cheerio to their comrades and home to their own bed for a good night’s rest after the constant trauma of living and working in a war zone.
Commanding Officer Colonel David McArthur in dismissing everyone for well-deserved leave said: ‘In 205 Field Hospital we aim to do something well. In this tour of duty, you did extremely well. Due to your medical skills, Afghan, US and UK people are alive. You worked in an outstanding way and co-operated with US and Allied medical teams to provide top line care in the busiest trauma centre in the world. It was a very good, but also a very sad experience. You come back with a plethora of experiences and professional development. I say to you – well done and welcome home.’
Second-in-command, Lt Col Roddy Neilson added: ‘You have won high respect. We are very, very proud of each and every one of you.’
Almost 100 medical professionals from hospitals from Glasgow to Aberdeen, serve in the Territorial Army unit 205 (Scottish) Field Hospital (Volunteers) which has its headquarters in Govan.
For some personnel, such as Cpl Michelle Williamson, who is a staff nurse at the Southern General in civilian life, this tour was her second time in the conflict zone.
‘It was a fantastic experience,’ she told the LOCAL NEWS. ‘Our patients were casualties of every nationality. It was nice when we’d bump into a discharged patient who’d say how much they’d appreciated the care they’d received. After all, they are the ones who are risking their lives every time.’
Her Mother, Michelle said: ‘We are delighted she is home and we’re very proud of her, for she’s doing a good job.’
Captain Margot McCrone admitted it was a very difficult experience. ‘The reality is so different from what you imagine. It was a very busy theatre and you saw raw trauma,’ said the Theatre Team Leader who works in the Golden Jubilee National Hospital in Clydebank. ‘It was also the best experience of my life.’
Her parents, Hugh and Charlotte and brother Douglas, were all at Govan to welcome her home. Said Mrs McCrone: ‘We’re very proud and very, very relieved she’s home. I’m sure she’s gained a lot from being in Afghanistan. She enjoys the TA and is very positive about her work.’
During their stint in Afghanistan, the medics received visits from Prince Charles, the Princess Royal and the Prime Minister.
In June, the Field Hospital unit will be honoured by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons with a dinner in Glasgow and they will be given a Civic Reception by Glasgow City Council.

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