A ‘One Nation’ Queen’s Speech?

‘The Queen’s Speech 2015 will be a clear programme for working people, social justice and bringing our country together’

Ahead of today’s Queen’s Speech Prime Minister David Cameron said:

“Behind this Queen’s Speech is a clear vision for what our country can be. A country of security and opportunity for everyone, at every stage of life.

“That is our ambition. To build a country where whoever you are and wherever you live you can have the chance of a good education, a decent job, a home of your own and the peace of mind that comes from being able to raise a family and enjoy a secure retirement.

“A country that backs those who work hard and do the right thing.

“This is the Queen’s Speech for working people from a ‘one nation’ government that will bring our country together.

“We have a mandate from the British people, a clear manifesto and the instruction to deliver. And we will not waste a single moment in getting on with the task.”

First Minister meets Prime Minister – no meeting of minds but progress made

First post-election talks are ‘constructive and helpful’

More powers for the Scottish Parliament and tackling austerity were on the agenda as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon met Prime Minister David Cameron at Bute House yesterday.

During their first face-to-face talks since the general election, the First Minister welcomed a commitment by the Prime Minister to look at proposals from the Scottish Government to extend Holyrood’s power beyond the plans outlined in the Smith Commission.

Ms Sturgeon also welcomed the Prime Minister’s agreement that legislation currently being drafted to take forward further devolution would implement in full the Smith Commission proposals and also take account of the report published by the Scottish Parliament’s Devolution Committee earlier this week.

The discussions, described by the First Minister as “constructive and helpful”, also covered her desire to tackle austerity, with further proposals on how this could be achieved within the UK Government’s own fiscal mandate now to be submitted by the Scottish Government and considered by the Prime Minister in due course.

To take forward these points, the First Minister and Prime Minister also agreed to much closer contact between their respective governments, with a commitment to increasing the number of bilateral meetings between the pair.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “I was pleased to welcome the Prime Minister to Bute House for what were constructive and helpful talks on a range of issues following the outcome of the UK general election.

“During the meeting, we had a productive discussion about the Smith Commission proposals and where we might go beyond them. From that, two things of importance were agreed. Firstly, there was a commitment from the Prime Minister that the legislation being drafted will fully implement the Smith Commission proposals and take account of the conclusions of the Holyrood committee report that was published yesterday.

“Secondly, the Prime Minister agreed that he would look at proposals the Scottish Government will bring forward on how we go beyond the Smith Commission in various important areas. There was no agreement on the substance of that, but the Prime Minister has said he will consider our proposals and there will be a meeting, in the first instance, between the Deputy First Minister and the Secretary of State for Scotland to look at how we take that further forward.”

The First Minister continued: “The Prime Minister and I have agreed to meet more regularly, which is a good step forward. We have also agreed to much closer contact between Ministers in the Scottish and UK governments to discuss issues of common interest and policies that impact on Scotland at a much earlier stage – that’s all very positive.

“David Cameron and I are a world apart politically but, where we can, I’m determined that we do business in the interest of people in Scotland and across the UK and I’m determined to have a constructive and business-like relationship.

“I hope that the Prime Minister can now show he can respond and deliver a better deal for Scotland, with an empowered Scottish Parliament with the powers over business taxes and employment law, the minimum wage and welfare that enables us to grow our economy, get more people into jobs, and lift people out of poverty. Because, ultimately, that is what this process is all about.”

The First Minister confirmed that discussions had also covered austerity and public spending across the UK. She said: “The Prime Minister has a fiscal mandate, but even within that that I believe there is enough flexibility to ease the pain of austerity, invest in the things that matter while still getting the debt and deficit down. We have agreed to send our analysis and proposals to the UK Government and he has agreed to look at them. I have a duty as First Minister of Scotland to stand up for the things I believe the people of Scotland want and I will not shy away from doing that.”The visit came within a week of the election result, and the Westminster government says this underlines the Prime Minister’s commitment to renewing and refreshing the United Kingdom and the importance he places on the respect agenda.

Speaking before the meeting, Prime Minister David Cameron said: “I am here today to underline my commitment to our United Kingdom and Scotland’s important place within it.

“That means remaining true to the promise we made to implement the all-party Smith agreement to make Scotland one of the most accountable and powerful devolved parliaments in the world.

“It also means recognising those things which unite us in these islands: the achievements we have made together, the institutions we have built together, our great social history, the common economic challenges we face today, and the strength which comes from pulling together for the common good in the future. This is our one nation agenda in action.

“Scotland has two governments and it is the duty of the First Minister and myself to respect each other’s roles and responsibilities and to work together for the benefit of all the people of Scotland.

“As more powers are devolved to Scotland, it is time to move beyond the debate about processes and focus on those bread and butter issues that affect every family in our United Kingdom – jobs, homes, good schools and strong public services, and dignity and respect in retirement. These are the building blocks we need to provide a brighter future for people in every part of our country.”

Diverse opinions as Edinburgh Local Plan moves on

A move toward providing certainty, a missed opportunity to develop a sustainable city region – or a kick in the teeth?

The City of Edinburgh Council today agreed that its Local Development Plan should be moved on to be examined by the Reporter appointed by the Scottish Government, before the final plan is agreed.

To help the Reporter to understand where there are opportunities to change to plan, the Planning Committee also agreed a motion which details where it sees merit in the representations made.

Cllr Ian Perry, Convener of the Planning Committee, said: The Council needs to allocate land to allow much-needed housing to be delivered for the city. While we are keen to ensure that brownfield land is developed first, it is necessary to identify some new greenfield sites in a growing city.

“It is therefore very important that the Local Development Plan is now moved to the next stage to allow the Council to guide developers on future land use. This has been a difficult decision but it is important that we move towards providing certainty for local communities and developers. ”

However Lothians Green MSP Alison Johnstone slammed the decision and said the council is obsessed with suburban sprawl rather than building affordable homes.

The long-awaited plan allocates land around the city for the next 10 years, and has been driven by controversial Scottish Government projections that more than 100,000 new homes are needed across South-east Scotland. Controversially, it earmarks areas including Cammo, Brunstane and Newmills for potential development.

Alison Johnstone MSP said: “It’s frustrating to see this plan being passed without addressing the real concerns of communities around Edinburgh where unnecessary developments are earmarked. Our city has thousands of empty homes, plenty of brownfield sites and land that has been banked by developers. That is where the focus should be.

“The city urgently needs more affordable homes – homes which are built in compact communities with easy access to services and transport. Much of the LDP debate has sadly been about swapping suburban sprawl in one location for sprawl in another, without fundamentally addressing the need for a spreading the city at all. It is a missed opportunity to develop a sustainable city region.”

SNP MSP Colin Keir, who’s Edinburgh Western constituency includes green belt likely to prove attractive to developers, is also angry. He said: “I am bitterly disappointed by the decision of Planning Committee today. The Planning Committee has delivered a kick in the teeth to those opposing the 2nd Proposed Local Development Plan.

“This decision is in fact a shirking of responsibility. The Committee could have made a decision that reflected the representations from communities across the City and in particular in my constituency at Cammo, Maybury and South Queensferry where clear and substantial objections were raised based on the inability of the local infrastructure to support development on the scale proposed.

“The Committee has in effect agreed the LDP unamended while attaching a wish list of housing site adjustments which the reporter may or may not pay any attention to.”

Murphy: ‘Overwhelmed by history and by circumstance’

‘We will be again the change that working people need’ – Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy

Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy has responded to his party’s near wipeout in yesterday’s general election by promising to fight to make Labour the natural voice for working people once again.

Time is not on his side. The party that has dominated the Scottish political scene for so long – in the industrial heartlands it’s said they used to weigh the Labour votes, not count them – has been reduced to one solitary MP: and the Scottish Parliamentary Elections are just a year away.

Mr Murphy, who lost his own East Renfrewshire seat last night, divides opinion both inside and outside the Labour Party, but it will come as no surprise to many that he’s decided to tough it out while Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage (perhaps!) have called it a day.

He’s a fighter is oor Jim, and in a typically combative message to members said Labour will bounce back after having been ‘overwhelmed by history and by circumstance’:

Firstly, thank you.

Thousands of members and activists worked so hard for Labour across Scotland and across the UK for a Labour Government. Your dedication is extraordinary.

I want to thank the 700,000 people across Scotland who voted Labour yesterday. Those people voted for the most radical Scottish Labour manifesto in a generation.

We are coming to terms with a dreadful night for our party.

Far worse than that we have the realisation of a terrible day for Scotland, and for working class people across the UK, as David Cameron forms another government.

The friends and colleagues lost have been faithful servants to our party and forceful advocates for their constituents.

But this isn’t about us. It isn’t about individual’s careers.

Because while we have lost seats the thing that hurts most is the loss of hope that will be felt as we face another five years of a government totally lacking in vision and compassion.

I didn’t stand for leader out of a sense of personal ambition. I stood because I knew that Scottish Labour after losing in 2007 and 2011 and after the emotional hangover of the referendum faced the biggest challenge in our 127 year history.

As Leader I wanted to take responsibility for meeting these challenges and I still do.

Our campaign was energetic and professional on the ground.

But we have been overwhelmed by history and by circumstance. We make no excuses. A party can never blame the electorate.

Scotland deserves a stronger Scottish Labour Party. Working class people need the party back on its feet.

So where now for Scottish Labour?

We have to start from our strengths. And here the success of the SNP strategy offers us a guide on how to move forward.

‘We have been beaten by a party who claimed our heritage, clothed themselves in our values, and copied many of our policies.

We will take confidence in the principles behind our policies and we will renew and retarget them for the Scottish election.

With less than a year to the Scottish Parliament elections. We cannot afford another period of introspection.

People need Labour now.

They need a strong opposition.

They need us to be what we have always been at our best: a voice for working people.

This morning as the sun rose we were hurting.

But in a morning like this, before too long.

We will bounce back.

We will again be the change that working people need.

A message from Mark Lazarowicz

I would like to thank all those who gave me their support in the general election held on 7 May. I was proud of the way we took our message to every street in every part of Edinburgh North & Leith, and although we were unsuccessful, I am sure that the efforts of our team were one of the reasons why I received more votes in 2015 than in the 2010 election.

I have been extremely privileged to have been able to serve the people of Edinburgh North & Leith as their representative in Parliament since 2001, and I thank them for giving me that opportunity.

I congratulate the successful candidate Deidre Brock on her victory. Like all MPs, she can be contacted at the House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA, switchboard 0207 219 3000.

My constituency office will now close down, and as I am no longer an MP I will not be able to deal with any constituency work. However, Malcolm Chisholm MSP continues to have his constituency office at 5 Croall Place, Leith Walk and can be contacted for any Scottish Parliament matters in the Edinburgh Northern & Leith constituency.

General Election: Edinburgh results in full

The UK Parliamentary General Election results for Edinburgh’s five constituencies have been announced.

The Members of Parliament for each constituency are listed in full below and full details of the results are on the Council website:

Edinburgh East Constituency: Tommy Sheppard, SNP

Edinburgh North & Leith Constituency: Deidre Leanne Brock, SNP

Edinburgh South Constituency: Ian Murray, Labour

Edinburgh South West Constituency: Joanna Catherine Cherry, SNP

Edinburgh West Constituency: Michelle Rhonda Thompson SNP

Speaking earlier this morning, Returning Officer Sue Bruce (above) said: “I’d like to pay tribute to the work of the Council’s election team who have put months of hard work and planning into delivering the election. I would also like to thank Police Scotland, the candidates and their agents and the media for working constructively with us to conduct proceedings properly and efficiently.”

“This is the first time the EICC has been the venue for an election count and I would like to thank Marshall Dallas, Chief Executive, and his team for all their support.”

Turnout: 73.01%
Electorate: 357718
Votes cast: 261165

For further details of the results and the General Election, please see the Elections section of the Council website.

Scotland wakes up to a Tory government

‘It is an extraordinary statement of intent from the people of Scotland. The Scottish lion has roared this morning across the country’ – Alex Salmond MP

Scots are waking up to another Conservative government this morning. A night of high drama has seen David Cameron’s party creep ever closer to an overall majority – despite an unprecedented surge of support for the SNP which saw the party sweep to a remarkable victory in 56 of 59 seats in Scotland.

All of the Scottish results are now in and the map of Scotland is now a bright SNP yellow – only Alistair Carmichael (LibDem), David Mundell (Conservative) and Labour’s Ian Murray survived the SNP onslaught.

Among the big names to taste defeat in Scotland are Jim Murphy, Margaret Curran, Danny Alexander, Charles Kennedy and Douglas Alexander.

On what was a truly dreadful night for the Labour Party in Scotland Ian Murray’s victory in Edinburgh South was the one bright spark on an evening of unrelenting misery as safe seat after safe seat fell to the SNP – Labour lost 40 seats. The LibDems also paid the price for their coalition with the Tories, losing ten of their 11 MPs in Scotland.

Locally, both sitting MPs lost their seats. The result of the 2010 general election saw Labour return five MPs and the LibDems one, but from early in the campaign it’s been clear that change was coming. It came with a vengeance – LibDem Mike Crockart (Edinburgh West) and Labour’s Mark Lazarowicz (North & Leith), Sheila Gilmore (East) and Ricky Henderson – in Alistair Darling’s former South West seat – all lost, swept away in an SNP landslide.

Nationally, Labour did not make the vital gains in marginal seats required to wrest power from the Tories and, as predicted, the LibDems lost heavily across the country. Polls barely shifted throughout a lacklustre campaign down south and at 8am David Cameron is on course to form the next government – the Tories may even scrape to a narrow majority and so would not need the support of Northern Ireland’s DUP.

The more things change, the more they stay the same …

LOCAL RESULTS:

EDINBURGH NORTH & LEITH

DEIRDRIE BROCK (SNP) 23, 742

Mark Lazarowicz (Labour) 18, 145

Iain MacGill (Conservative) 9378

Sarah Beattie-Smith (Green) 3140

Martin Veart (Lib Dem) 2634

Alan Melville (UKIP) 847

Bruce Whitehead (Left Unity) 122

EDINBURGH WEST

MICHELLE THOMSON (SNP) 21, 378

Mike Crockart (Lib Dem) 18, 168

Lyndsay Paterson (Conservative) 6732

Cammy Day (Labour) 6425

Pat Black (Green) 1140

George Inglis (UKIP) 1015

General Election 2015: It’s Time …

Around 50,000 polling stations across the country have opened their doors as the General Election vote gets underway, and if pollsters are correct this could be the closest result in many years.

A total of 650 Westminster MPs will be elected, with almost 50 million people registered to vote. The magic number for parties looking to form a government is 326.

Local candidates:

EDINBURGH NORTH AND LEITH

Sarah Beattie-Smith (Green)

Deidre Brock (SNP)

Mark Lazarowicz (Labour)

Iain McGill (Conservative)

Alan Melville (UKIP)

Martin Veart (Liberal Democrat)

Bruce Whitehead (Left Unity)

EDINBURGH WEST

Pat Black (Green)

Mike Crockart (Liberal Democrat)

Cammy Day (Labour)

George Inglis (UKIP)

Lindsay Paterson (Conservative)

Michelle Thomson (SNP)

Polls are open from 7am – 10pm – don’t leave it too late to vote!

Austerity: the fight will go on

‘Sadly, all of the mainstream parties in Scotland – including the SNP – appear to have accepted ‘austerity-lite’’ – Phil McGarry, Chair of the People’s Assembly Against Austerity Scotland.

A non-party campaign group set up to challenge austerity says it’s ‘heartened’ by the number of general election candidates to have pledged to commit themselves to oppose all austerity cuts – but warns that politicians’ words must be matched by deeds.

Sixty-two out of 220 candidates contacted responded to the People’s Assembly Scotland’s petition against austerity and most of those have also signed up to it.

Top pledgers were the Greens (14), next came Labour (11) and in third place was the SNP, with 9 of its 22 responders agreeing to sign up to oppose all austerity cuts while the others issued a statement which included: ‘We believe we can manage the deficit down, but without destroying the social fabric that holds us together.’

Six TUSC candidates signed, along with one each for the Communist Party of Britain, The Liberal Democrats, and Class War. Colin Fox signed on behalf of the SSP, but the only Conservative who responded asked what austerity was and didn’t sign.

Launched in January 2014 in Scotland, The People’s Assembly is a broad united national campaign against austerity, cuts and privatisation in our workplaces, community and welfare services, based on general agreement with the signatories’ Founding Statement http://www.thepeoplesassembly.org.uk/draft-statement.

It is linked to no political party, committed to open non-sectarian working and dedicated to supplementing, rather than supplanting, trade union, student, pensioner and community opposition to austerity measures.

“With austerity right at the front of so many parties’ election campaign, we are surprised more candidates didn’t take the chance to publicly confirm their opposition to austerity. Given the public campaigning, we are even more surprised at how few SNP candidates were willing to actually pledge to oppose all austerity”, said Phil McGarry, Chair of the People’s Assembly Against Austerity Scotland.

“Nevertheless, It is heartening to see that a good number of candidates across the parties (apart from the Tories) have been prepared to stand up and say they will fight the austerity that has created so much poverty and inequality.

“However it also shows that there is a long way to go before politicians’ actions match their words. Sadly, all of the mainstream parties in Scotland – including the SNP – appear to have accepted ‘austerity-lite’ with the Tories intent on even more austerity”, he added.

“No matter what the election outcome, campaigns like the People’s Assembly, trade unions and community organisations will still have to push politicians to address the real issues facing people on the ground.

“The irony is that the austerity that cuts jobs, cuts the money available in local communities and cuts the tax that is available, leads to a vicious circle of even more austerity. Apart from the human cost with food banks being the only growing industry, local economies are being pushed further into stagnation. We will continue to campaign against a system that punishes the poor and lines the pockets of the rich”.

62 candidates out of the 220 candidates contacted by the People’s Assembly Scotland responded and of those 44 signed up to the 38 Degrees Petition https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/an-end-to-austerity.

The list of those responding and their comments is at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7viJVThyeghZXItVlgwakNQTTQ/view?usp=sharing

Election questions answered in Muirhouse?

Are you confused with the Party manifestos at the forthcoming General Election? (writes James McGinty)

Cammy Day (Labour) will run a drop in to Muirhouse Millennium (Community) Centre from 12 noon -1.00pm on Wednesday 6 May to explain any issues or queries you may have.

So come along at any time between 12.00 and 1.00 pm and either add your questions or sit and listen to other peoples questions and prepare yourself for a very important General Election. The meeting will take place in our boardroom initially (dependent on community response).

James McGinty, Muirhouse Millennium Community Centre