Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
WORKING FOR YOU Cross-party bid to make UK government think again
I would like to take the time in my first article of 2018 to wish all the Advertiser’s readers a happy new year.
Despite it only being January, it seems like April Fools’ Day has come very early, with Theresa May reshuffling her team soon after Parliament returned. The stunt could very well be her biggest failure to date. Instead of seeing off the likes of Boris Johnson and the Bullingdon boys, we as a nation are left in the hands of hardright politicians such as Esther McVey – famous for saying it is “right” that people use foodbanks and that sanctions “teach” jobseekers lessons in looking for work properly.
It’s a shame Mrs May kicked off 2018 promoting such individuals, instead of getting to grips with the real issues affecting ordinary families, such as stagnant wages and rises in living costs.
Closer to home, last week I organised a meeting for Women Affected by State Pension Inequality (WASPI) in the area. A total of 3.8 million women across the UK now need to work until they are 66, with little warning.
The meeting in Coatbridge was standing room only, with more than 150 in attendance.
It provided information and advice on how to complain and featured speakers from both Labour and the SNP, who outlined how the political campaign to reverse the government’s decision is going.
Many thanks to Fulton MacGregor MSP and Marion Fellows MP for also attending.
We will continue to work on a cross-party basis to overturn this unfair change in pension arrangements.
I was delighted that, following the public consultation on school bus provision locally, Labour councillors have voted to scrap any proposed changes.
The proposals by officers arose as a means of saving money ahead of the disproportionate cuts coming from the Scottish Government.
Further to this, SNP deputy first minster John Swinney has said that the increased distance proposed is Scottish Government policy, and that they have no plans to change it.
Despite this, councillors listened to the concerns of parents, guardians and carers and scrapped the idea.
This is a real victory for people power and I’d like to congratulate all of the parents who got involved.
Finally, I’d like to congratulate my Labour colleagues in the Scottish Parliament on their recent appointments.
Elaine Smith will do a fabulous job in holding the government to account on poverty and inequalities, as will Monica Lennon in the communities team and Mark Griffin in social security.
Richard Leonard is showing that he has the right team in place to challenge the Scottish Government on their failings and to lead the Labour party into providing government for the many, not the few.