All politicians are NOT the same
All politicians are the same we hear that all the time don’t we, but it couldn’t be farther from the truth.
It really does matter who is making the decisions that affect our lives - and this year is seeing a range of events celebrating the fact that it is now 100 years since some women won the right to vote.
I say“some”, because it wasn’t for another decade, in 1928, that eligibility to vote was equalised for men and women.
Nevertheless, the breakthrough in 1918 was a massive leap forward in terms of equality and deserves to be remembered and celebrated - as do the women who achieved it.
There are plans in place that will see thousands of women and girls across the UK walking together as part of a mass participatory artwork on Sunday, June 10.
To mark this historic moment, they will wear either green, white or violet scarves - the colours of the suffrage movement, appearing as a flowing river of colour as they walk through the city streets.
Processions will be taking place in the four UK political capitals (Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff and London) and to take part in this free event people are being encouraged to sign-up online at www.processions. co.uk
Of course, changing the gender balance in politics doesn’t necessarily mean improving the decisions that are made.
We have a female first minister and a female prime minister and the differences between Nicola Sturgeon and Theresa May and the governments that they lead are there for all to see.
There is much that distinguishes the Scottish Government from the UK Government in Westminster but one stark example was highlighted by a story in the pages of this paper on Tuesday.
The Tories introduced the bedroom tax and recent figures show that 11 per cent of households in Perth and Kinross who are in receipt of help with their housing costs have been adversely impacted by this illconceived assault on the poor and the vulnerable.
The good news, however, for those 827 households, is that the Scottish Government has committed itself to defending them against this outrage.
Through the discretionary housing payments scheme, administered by the local authority but reimbursed by the Scottish Government, we are protecting Scots from the worst excesses of this Tory Government. Indeed, over the last four years, more than £350 million has been spent by the Scottish Government mitigating Tory austerity cuts.
The Scottish Government wants to help lift up those people who need a bit of help, not batter them down, and so I was delighted by the announcement this week of a new £7.5m innovation fund to tackle child poverty.
That fund, financed by the Scottish Government and the Hunter Foundation , is now open for applications from community groups, local charities, health boards and councils and I would encourage any local organisation with an idea or existing project that could benefit from support – and more importantly, be of benefit to children in our area – to apply for a share of this funding. Emmeline Pankhurst (centre) with other Suffragettes in 1913