Worrying sign but fight to keep jobs isn’t over

Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of the East Kilbride News.

HMRC’s move to sign a 25-year lease for new premises in Glasgow is the major talking point this week and there can be no denying this is a worrying sign for the Stay in EK Campaign, of which the News is a fervent supporter.

But the fight to keep 2700 tax office jobs in East Kilbride beyond 2026 is far from over.

The plans to ship these posts out to Glasgow have been widely criticised. Not only will it devastate the EK economy, it will likely cost the taxpayer more to relocate to the city centre than remain at Centre 1.

Our readers can make their voice heard by signing the Stay In EK petition, available at many outlets in the town centre. We would like to ask you to take a stance and, once again, we urge HMRC to keep these jobs in East Kilbride.

Elsewhere, you can read how a Calderwood family are embroiled in a battle over benefits with the Department for Work and Pensions.

Kasha-anne Johnston claims she has been left struggling to feed her children after having her Universal Credit cut. Read the full story on pages four and five.

If you turn to page seven there’s a special report into the war on drugs after the News joined local cops on an early morning raid.

On our letters page the plague of potholes on our roads are continuing to drive residents mad. You can find this on page 32.

And there’s also our regular feast of competitions. A £50 Di Maggio’s voucher is up for grabs on page 36, £50 to spend at EK East Kilbride is on offer on page 16 and on page eight you can win tickets to see latest movies at Odeon Luxe cinema. Good luck!

Paul Thomson