The week ahead...

Monday
On leave from work. In the morning I have a meeting of the Clyde Valley Community Planning Partnership in East Renfrewshire. In the early afternoon I am paying a visit to a local major employer with my colleague Michael McCormick. Later in the afternoon I will be chairing a meeting of the Inverclyde Alliance Board. In the evening I have a surgery at Clune Park Resource Centre followed by a meeting of the Woodhall Task Group.
Tuesday
A full day at work. In the evening I will be attending the Kilmacolm Primary School Parent Partnership AGM.
Wednesday
At work in the morning. In the afternoon I have meetings with the EIS, Chief Executive and Labour Group. In the evening I hope to attend the AGM of Newark Primary School Parent Council.
Thursday
At work in the morning. In the afternoon I have meetings at Riverside Inverclyde before returning to work for an evening meeting.
Friday
A full day at work.
Saturday
I will be attending the Armed Forces Day Service at Paisley Abbey in the morning then going along to the Comet Festival in Port Glasgow.
Sunday
Attending an event in the afternoon to mark the completion of a new lift and disabled toilet in Quarrier's Village Sommerville Weir Hall.

My response to the separatists in today's Greenock Telegraph...

Your correspondent Ronnie Cowan is true to form (‘Don’t confuse policies’, 10^th June).

There was no need for him to spell out his credentials. I have had his card marked for some time. As well as being Organiser of the local Yes Scotland campaign group he is a prominent member of Inverclyde SNP.

His side swipe at me being “a paid politician” was rather petty. For the record, in addition to being an elected politician, I hold down a full time job as Assistant Chief Executive of a Glasgow housing association. I am well acquainted with what goes on in the real world.

I am disappointed that Mr Cowan sought to distort my position on the Union. Contrary to what he stated, my entire argument for staying in the Union is not “we haven’t done badly out of it and that we are valued contributors”.

I will be voting against separation on 18 September 2014 for one principal reason: I am British.

I was not born with a chip on my shoulder. Neither was I born with an innate sense of grievance against the English. I have never seen Scotland as a subjugated nation.

My politics are not based on narrow nationalism but on my Christian beliefs and a desire to build a fairer and more just society.

When I joined the Labour Party 30 years ago I joined the British Labour Party. When I became a trade unionist 27 years ago I joined the British Trade Union Movement.

I came into politics to change my country for the better: not to change countries.

The UK is far from perfect. We still have a long way to go to build our ‘New Jerusalem’.

As a Socialist and member of the British Labour Movement I want to see greater social justice across these islands and not just on this side of the English border. That is what sets me apart from those on the left who think separation is a short cut to a Socialist paradise.

Mr Cowan finishes his letter with a plea to readers not to confuse SNP Policy with the Yes Campaign. This demonstrates the fundamental contradiction at the heart of the separation movement.

The SNP – which Mr Cowan is a member of – are at pains to reassure Scots that little will change after independence. We will keep the pound and the Queen. We will remain in NATO and we will still be able to watch Eastenders and  X-Factor.

Others in Yes Scotland want to ditch the pound and the Queen and take Scotland out of NATO. Who knows they might even want to stop us watching Eastenders and X-Factor!

Faced with this contradiction, and the failure of the SNP to provide convincing answers to legitimate questions, the separatists are increasingly asking the people of Scotland to take a leap of faith. Trust us they plead: we know what we’re doing.

We will find out on 19th September 2014 if the peoples of Scotland are prepared to take a leap into the unknown. I pray not.

The week ahead...

Monday
A full day at work. In the evening I will be chairing a meeting of the Port Glasgow Community Campus Working Group.
Tuesday
I've taken a day's leave from work so that I can attend the parade by The Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders in Port Glasgow. Prior to the parade I will be paying a visit to the new Port Glasgow Community Campus to see how work is progressing. In the afternoon. I will be attending the schools' musical 'Let the Games Begin' in Greenock Town Hall. In the evening I have a surgery in Boglestone Community Centre followed by a meeting of St Stephen's High School Parent Council.
Wednesday
At work in the morning. In the afternoon I have a meeting of the Policy & Resources Executive Sub-Committee, my weekly meeting with the Chief Executive and a meeting of the Labour Group. In the evening I will be attending a meeting of Port Glasgow East Community Council.
Thursday
A full day at work with no evening commitments.
Friday
Another full day at work. Going along to the St Michael's Primary School BBQ in the evening.

Inverclyde Labour welcomes Scottish Labour Leader Johann Lamont...

Greenock & Inverclyde CLP AGM 07/06/13, Tontine Hotel

My letter in today's Greenock Telegraph...

I welcome the contributions of your correspondents Ronnie Cowan and Tom Tracey to the debate on Scotland’s future in the United Kingdom (31 May). It would perhaps have been more honest however if they had identified themselves as leading members of the local Yes Scotland Campaign Group.

Let me put my cards on the table. I will be voting No to separation on 18 September 2014. I am also an active member of the Inverclyde Better Together Group.

Something that did irritate me a bit in both letters was the references to “the people of Scotland”, as if we all think and feel the same way.

Scotland is a diverse and multi-cultural society. Scots come in all shapes and sizes. We come from varied religious and ethnic backgrounds. We, or our ancestors, came to this country from all parts of the world. We have many different political views. Indeed there are still quite a lot of people in Scotland who vote Tory!

No single campaign or political party should claim to speak for the people of Scotland. Scots, well at least the political class, are deeply dived on this issue.

Much of the debate up to now has been framed around whether or not Scots will be better or worse off financially if we were to separate. I don’t envy those who will make their minds up on how to vote on this basis. I’m not sure whether I will be better or worse off tomorrow than I am today, never mind thinking about the next 300 years.

Economic arguments have been advanced on both sides. Mind you, if you ask three economists the same question you will get at least three different answers. On balance, I am more persuaded by the arguments that Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland will be better off if Scotland remains within the Union.

For me however it is all about identity. I did not come into this world with much, but one precious thing I did inherit was my British passport.

Our nation is a great nation, whose peoples have given much to the world. We have also done a few things that we should be less than proud of over the centuries. But taking the good with the bad, the United Kingdom is arguably the most successful and enduring economic and political union in the history of the world.

Scots have not been bit parts players in the last 300 years. They have been at the very heart of both the Union and the Empire. Britain belongs to us Scots as much as it does to the other peoples of these islands.

I find it ironic that the separatists are so committed to Scotland remaining part of the European Union, which we joined in 1973, and at the same time so determined to break up another Union, which we joined in 1707.

To me there is no contradiction and no need to make a choice. I can be proud to be a Scot and proud to be British.

I came into politics to help make both my community and my country better places to live. I certainly have no intention of abandoning my community and I won’t be voting to abandon my country.

The week ahead...

Monday
Full day at work. In the evening I will be attending a meeting of the Kelburn Action Group.
Tuesday
Another full day at work. At night I hope to attend a meeting of Park Farm Tenants' and Residents' Association.
Wednesday
At work until early afternoon before heading to Greenock for my weekly meeting with the Chief Executive and a meeting of the Labour Group.
Thursday
At work until early afternoon. Late afternoon there is a meeting of the full Council.
Friday
A full day at work. In the evening I will be attending the Annual General Meeting of Greenock & Inverclyde Constituency Labour Party, where Scottish Labour Leader Johann Lamont is the guest speaker.