General Election 2015: your questions matter!

Come along and ask candidates the questions that matter to you! Pilton Community Health Project will be holding hustings in each of the two constituencies in the area.

Candidates for Edinburgh North and Leith have been invited to attend hustings on Thursday 19 March from 6.30 – 8pm at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre. A light soup supper will be available from 6 with questions starting from 6.30. The event will be Chaired by the very able Harry Woodward.

Candidates for Edinburgh West have been invited to attend hustings on Thursday 26 March from 6.30 -8pm at Muirhouse Millennium Community Centre. A light soup supper will be available from 6 with questions starting from 6.30. The event will be Chaired by the very able Harry Woodward.

Get in touch if you would like some help with childcare or have any questions – contact Anita on 0131 551 1671.

Lazarowicz calls for fair treatment for Equitable Life policyholders

Speaking in a debate at Westminster, Mark Lazarowicz MP highlighted the need for compensation to Equitable Life members to be increased and greatly speeded up to reflect the reality that many of those who lost out as a result of the maladministration are now advanced in age.

Speaking after the debate, he said: “Under the current scheme, the vast majority of Equitable Life policyholders will only receive less than a quarter – 22.4p in the £ – of what they lost after investing in what was to all appearances a safe, well-established and regulated scheme: it was anything but.

“I want to see the compensation properly reflect what all policyholders lost and be speeded up: the Government should act in the upcoming Budget.

“These were people who tried to make provision for their retirement and they should receive compensation while they can benefit from it: many who lost out have already died before receiving anything at all.

“This highlights why it’s also such a concern that the Government is so behind schedule in providing advice to people on how to make use of the new freedom to take some or all of their pension pot early.”

Even though official estimates of the losses suffered by policyholders at Equitable Life put the total figure at £4.3 billion, the Chancellor allocated only £1.5 billion in October 2010.

That has to cover the cost of administering the scheme and the £620m for full compensation to be paid to the 37,000 holders of with-profits annuities leaving the rest to be shared out amongst the remaining 945,000 policy holders.

Mark Lazarowicz’ contribution to the debate can be found here.

SNP candidate takes swipe at ‘double-jobbing’

SNP launch Edinburgh West general election campaign tomorrow

Michelle Thomson, SNP candidate in Edinburgh West, has spoken out against ‘double jobbing’, and condemns current LibDem MP Mike Crockart for backing the Tories and rejecting a ban.

The LibDem MP for Edinburgh West voted with the Tories to reject a ban on MPs carrying lucrative directorships alongside their parliamentary commitments.

“If I win this seat at Westminster, I will commit full time to the constituents of Edinburgh West rather than simultaneously act as some kind of adviser, director or business manager. I know women are great at multi-tasking but constituents deserve better than a part-time MP”, she said.

“Mr Crockart clearly has no such reservations and believes that it is perfectly viable to have a couple of jobs at once. I think voters deserve more than that.

“As a party, the SNP has made it very clear that we have no truck with Rifkind, Straw and all the others who back the idea of double jobbing. The LibDems are once again in bed with the Tories protecting the interests of the wealthy and elite.”

Following a Channel 4 programme that exposed Messrs Rifkind and Straw offering their services to a fictional Chinese company for rates of £5000-£8,000 a day, Labour moved a House of Commons motion to ban the practice. The Westminster SNP MPs voted in favour Labour’s motion, while the Tories and LibDems voted together to defeat it.

“The current position is, to my mind, ludicrous,” says Michelle Thomson. “Surely a salary of £67,060 a year plus generous expenses is enough for anyone to live on? I believe that those in elected office have an absolute duty to their constituents’ interests.

“Even apart from the row over ‘cash for access’ and the conflict of interests that can follow, I do not understand why any MP would have either the time or the need to earn additional money. If you want to earn millions, then don’t go into politics. You need to be absolutely committed to the job, not your pay packet.

“I grant that there are particular situations, such as family-run businesses for example, where elected representatives in either the Scottish or the Westminster Parliament retain a connection.

“That is a very different scenario from additional earnings such as Gordon Brown’s, currently almost a £1m a year. Is he representing the interests of his constituents in Fife?”

Comedian and broadcaster Hardeep Singh Kohli will be in Edinburgh West tomorrow morning to officially launch SNP candidate Michelle Thomson’s bid for a seat at Westminster.

Hardeep says: “Michelle is a fantastic person and so right for this task. She is completely without the pretensions you find in so many politicians. She genuinely cares and wants to bring real change.

“She has the endorsement of some very influential people like Angela Constance, Fiona Hyslop, Jim Sillars and Alex Neil. And, of course, me!

“I know she can do it. This is a great Campaign Hub and she has a fantastic team of committed folk around her. I wish her all the very best.”

Angela Constance MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, will also join tomorrow’s launch. She said: “Michelle has a proven track record. She’s an organiser, she gets things done and she is a great presenter on TV and radio.

“She knows and understands the challenges of running a small business and is an ideal candidate for Edinburgh West. She’s a warm and engaging person who genuinely cares and is committed to the community in which she has lived for more than 20 years.”

Michelle Thomson said: “Scottish politics has changed forever since last September and now is an incredibly exciting time to be involved so directly.

“We need to make sure that we have the strongest possible team of SNP MPs to hold the Westminster Government’s ‘feet to the fire’ on the big promises made before the Referendum.

“The people of this community have been let down by elected representatives doing one thing and saying another. Whether it is on tuition fees for students, the Bedroom Tax or paying down the debt, the UK parties seem unable to present any positive polices that help the voters of Edinburgh West.

“I want to see a Scotland that is growing stronger, more prosperous and fairer. Come 7 May, people in Edinburgh West have the opportunity to vote for integrity, honesty and real change for the better.”

The launch takes place at the SNP ‘Campaign Hub’ at 183 St. John’s Road from 10am.

Any questions?

Opportunities to get your questions answered at hustings events

PCHP_ELECTION_A4_LR

Pilton Community Health Project has organised hustings in both local constituency seats in the run up to the Westminster election in May.

Candidates for Edinburgh North and Leith have been invited to answer questions from local community on Thursday 19 March from 6.30 – 8pm at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre (soup will be available from 6pm).

Candidates for Edinburgh West have been invited to answer questions from the local community on Thursday 26 March from 6.30 – 8pm at Muirhouse Millennium Community Centre (soup will be available from 6pm).

http://pchp.org.uk/news/2015/your-questions-matter

Letter: Unity is strength

Dear Editor

The most important thing for the labour movement is to protect unity: without this, individuals and sections of the population become isolated and open to manipulation, followed by a lowering of their standard of living.

The powers that be continually use the press, radio and television to destroy that unity, attacking all sections of the labour movement whether individuals, the unions or the Labour Party, hoping to achieve and retain political control. In May we have a choice: do we vote Conservative, Lib Dem, Labour?

We know exactly what the Tories have done over the past five years, and what they intend to do. We know more or less exactly how the Lib Dems will perform.

That leaves Labour as the only hope to do what we would like to be done. This is the reason for the powerful campaign against the Labour movement.

Of course at present in Scotland the SNP seems to have attracted many labour movement supporters on the assumption the SNP will better represent the working population, therefore remaining part of the labour movement working for change.

If that is so, then co-operation between the SNP and the Labour Party is essential to throw out the Tories and the Lib Dems everywhere. May 2015 is crunch time; we must not lose this opportunity of getting rid of them.

We need unity now more than ever to save our social and public services on which we all rely. Ukip does not and cannot speak for the working population; it’s policies are conservative, divisive and backward-looking.

A.Delahoy, Silverknowes Gardens

Countdown: 100 days to General Election

Edinburgh residents are being urged to think about their vote with 100 days until the next UK Parliamentary Election.

People across the capital are being reminded that they will be voting for MPs to represent them at Westminster on Thursday 7 May, when the general election takes place.

More than 84% of the city’s residents voted in the Scottish Independence Referendum in September, which saw a record-breaking turnout across the country.

While most people who registered to vote in time for the referendum will still be eligible to take part in the UK Parliamentary Election in May, first time voters or anyone who has since moved will need to register again.

Sue Bruce, Chief Executive of City of Edinburgh Council and Returning Officer for Edinburgh, said: “It was incredible to see Edinburgh’s huge turnout in the Scottish Independence Referendum and we would like to continue this enthusiasm in the general election.

“No doubt the majority of people who took part in September will be keen to cast their vote in May. Voting should not be a once in a lifetime activity – elections are opportunities to have a say on issues that matter to us all. Anyone who is keen to register or is unsure about how to register, where to vote or how to vote by post can find more information on the Council website.”

Find out more about voter registration and elections information on the Council website.

Soapbox: A partly political broadside!

While the referendum was the big political story in Scotland last year, the rise and rise of UKIP hit the headines south of the border. Now it’s General Election year, and Broughton High School student ROSS COWPER thinks the country may be going backwards …

This is a party political broadcast by the UK independence party …

With the re-election of Mark Reckless to parliament in the Rochester and Strood by-election in November, it is safe to say that UKIP are gaining some ground in the political dog race.

Over the past year the party seemed to attract more and more under 30 year old’s to join them in getting rid of foreigners together, and turning good old Blighty back to the 50’s.

UKIP recently served up a slightly ironic new poster to the public, copying Russell Brand’s Revolution, which has turned the letters ‘evol’ around to spell ‘love’ – not something immediately thought of when thinking of UKIP!

Maybe UKIP are trying to appeal to Russell Brand’s younger audience (not necessarily supporters of Brand), in the hope of making them bigots from an early age. They will hopefully stay with the party to their dying day, where Britain is safe from those damn Europeans!

Perish the thought that if you went back far enough into a person’s history you will find they are actually originally through blood from southern France, for example, and not ‘truly English’ at all. No that would never do, it’s inconceivable!

So what can teens really expect under the ‘purple revolution’? It feels like I am repeating myself here but I guess that’s what UKIP wish. On their site the caption: ‘love Britain again’ and to accompany is the Winston Churchill’s famous ‘V for Victory’ gesture. Tell me again if I am repeating myself. Yes, it is great that Britain was part of the victory through World War Two, and Winston Churchill commanded that era, but you can’t go back and try to live off this forever – and if some people don’t like it, they’re seen as Nazi lovers! Seems like blackmail to me – and who are the real fascists now anyway?

I can’t imagine Russell Brand reacting positvely to this UKiP message; although he doesn’t think people should vote anyway, but instead rise up to challenge the establishment. Ironically this is where UKIP may have the upper hand: they don’t appear to be part of that ‘establishment’.

Farage has manifested himself (and his party) to look like a beer-swilling man of the people; people who know immigrants are to blame for all our troubles. If UKIP were a man, that man would be Farage, I guess.

UKIP supporters feel disenfranchised and believe that the political class ignores ordinary people, so why not change? I am all for change, to redistribute wealth, to help other countries in corrupt situations and for every human to have their rights.

I do want change, just not this change: I call UKIP’s change stepping backwards in time.

New Year … and the gloves are off already

2015 is a General Election year and the Westminster parties are off to a flying start – David Cameron, Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg have all issued New Year messages to kick off their campaigns.

In a video message, Prime Minister David Cameron insists the government’s economic plan is working and said Britain faces a choice between ‘competence and chaos’.

Ed Miliband, however, says people he has spoken to all across the country are desperate for change and he has promised an economic recovery that reaches people’s “kitchen table” if he becomes Prime Minister in May.

And Nick Clegg’s getting in on the act too …

Never mind, only five more months campaigning to go until the election … Happy New Year!