Monday
My only Council commitment is a meeting of the Kelburn Task Group in the evening.
Tuesday
I am attending an autism strategy event in the Beacon Arts Centre in the morning. In the afternoon I will be chairing a meeting of the Policy & Resources Committee. In the early evening I hope to attend the AGM of St Michael's Primary School Parent Council.
Wednesday
In the afternoon I have my weekly meeting with the Chief Executive followed by a meeting of the Labour Group. In the evening I will be attending the St Stephen's High School Awards Ceremony.
Thursday
In the afternoon I have a meeting of the Riverside Inverclyde Board. In the evening I will be attending the Port Glasgow High School Awards Ceremony.
Friday
No Council commitments.
Sunday, 21 September 2014
Councillor Vaughan Jones...
The claim made by SNP Group Leader Chris McEleny on national radio on Friday morning that Councillor Vaughan Jones was forced out of the Labour Group is a down right lie.
Mrs Jones left the Labour Group entirely of her own volition and at no time has she claimed she was forced out by her former colleagues. The reason she gave for resigning from the Group was her unease at the political direction of the Labour Party.
At all times Labour Group members respected Mrs Jones position on the independence referendum. At no time did we put pressure on her to support the position of the other nine members of the Group.
Indeed we withdrew a motion that we had intended to submit to the full Council in support of Scotland remaining within the UK despite Mrs Jones indicating that she would vote for it although she was undecided at that time. We did not want Mrs Jones to be under any pressure to support a motion that she had reservations about.
When Mrs Jones went public with her support for independence her former colleagues at no time criticised her decision. When she started to publicly campaign for Yes - despite having told us privately she did not intend to do so - we said nothing. When she agreed to speak at the public meeting organised by another political party - the Scottish Socialist Party - again we said nothing.
Councillor McEleny should withdraw the unfounded allegation he has made against the Labour Group and issue a public apology to each and every one of us.
Mrs Jones left the Labour Group entirely of her own volition and at no time has she claimed she was forced out by her former colleagues. The reason she gave for resigning from the Group was her unease at the political direction of the Labour Party.
At all times Labour Group members respected Mrs Jones position on the independence referendum. At no time did we put pressure on her to support the position of the other nine members of the Group.
Indeed we withdrew a motion that we had intended to submit to the full Council in support of Scotland remaining within the UK despite Mrs Jones indicating that she would vote for it although she was undecided at that time. We did not want Mrs Jones to be under any pressure to support a motion that she had reservations about.
When Mrs Jones went public with her support for independence her former colleagues at no time criticised her decision. When she started to publicly campaign for Yes - despite having told us privately she did not intend to do so - we said nothing. When she agreed to speak at the public meeting organised by another political party - the Scottish Socialist Party - again we said nothing.
Councillor McEleny should withdraw the unfounded allegation he has made against the Labour Group and issue a public apology to each and every one of us.
The people have spoken...
On Thursday's Scotland silent majority finally made its voice heard as the people of Scotland rejected the break up of Britain by a margin greater than most commentators had predicted.
Much has been made of the success of both campaigns in engaging with people who have not been involved in politics before. While this is to be welcomed we should not sweep under the carpet the unsavoury elements of the campaign that have shamed our nation.
In my 31 years involved in politics I have never known a more acrimonious or divisive campaign.
Overt sectarianism has entered our politics for the first time in my political life as demonstrated all too clearly on the streets of Glasgow on Friday night. The genie is out of the bottle and it will be difficult to put him back in.
Of course this sectarianism has not been confined to Glasgow. I have experienced it on the streets of Inverclyde and on social media.
Those who should know better have exploited the religious divisions within our community for their own narrow nationalist ends. They have sought to align the natural sympathy of sections of the local Irish Catholic community for a United Ireland with their campaign to break up Britain. By voting No you are voting with the Orange Order we were told.
The divisions however run deeper than just religion.
They have set neighbour against neighbour, work colleague against work colleague, friend against friend and family member against family member.
We have seen a break down in respect for the views of others. No voters were queueing up at Boglestone Community Centre on Thursday to tell me how intimated they had felt during the course of the campaign.
I and my colleagues experienced this at first hand.
Complete strangers saw nothing wrong with walking up to us in the street and calling us traitors to our country or Tory supporting scum.
Young and not so young men saw nothing wrong with driving past us tooting their horns and shouting obscenities.
A postman, taxi driver and social care worker out with a vulnerable client saw nothing wrong with taking time off from their duties to let us know exactly what they thought of us.
On social media we were subjected to constant abuse and lies, culminating with false stories circulating on Thursday that the MP had been thrown out of a polling station for being abusive to voters and I had been arrested for various misdemeanours. These lies are continuing to be spread on social media with no concern for the reputations of those affected.
And of course we are now facing threats of retribution against the Labour Party because we supported the No campaign.
I was warned just after the count on Friday morning by a nationalist that I was one of the two most hated men in Inverclyde politics (Iain McKenzie being the other) and that my political career is over.
While this could in part be put down to the heat of the moment a look at social media over the past couple of days suggests that the threat is very real indeed.
A whole generation seem to have taken leave of their senses.
While the people have spoken, the divisions of this campaign could take a very long time to heal.
Much has been made of the success of both campaigns in engaging with people who have not been involved in politics before. While this is to be welcomed we should not sweep under the carpet the unsavoury elements of the campaign that have shamed our nation.
In my 31 years involved in politics I have never known a more acrimonious or divisive campaign.
Overt sectarianism has entered our politics for the first time in my political life as demonstrated all too clearly on the streets of Glasgow on Friday night. The genie is out of the bottle and it will be difficult to put him back in.
Of course this sectarianism has not been confined to Glasgow. I have experienced it on the streets of Inverclyde and on social media.
Those who should know better have exploited the religious divisions within our community for their own narrow nationalist ends. They have sought to align the natural sympathy of sections of the local Irish Catholic community for a United Ireland with their campaign to break up Britain. By voting No you are voting with the Orange Order we were told.
The divisions however run deeper than just religion.
They have set neighbour against neighbour, work colleague against work colleague, friend against friend and family member against family member.
We have seen a break down in respect for the views of others. No voters were queueing up at Boglestone Community Centre on Thursday to tell me how intimated they had felt during the course of the campaign.
I and my colleagues experienced this at first hand.
Complete strangers saw nothing wrong with walking up to us in the street and calling us traitors to our country or Tory supporting scum.
Young and not so young men saw nothing wrong with driving past us tooting their horns and shouting obscenities.
A postman, taxi driver and social care worker out with a vulnerable client saw nothing wrong with taking time off from their duties to let us know exactly what they thought of us.
On social media we were subjected to constant abuse and lies, culminating with false stories circulating on Thursday that the MP had been thrown out of a polling station for being abusive to voters and I had been arrested for various misdemeanours. These lies are continuing to be spread on social media with no concern for the reputations of those affected.
And of course we are now facing threats of retribution against the Labour Party because we supported the No campaign.
I was warned just after the count on Friday morning by a nationalist that I was one of the two most hated men in Inverclyde politics (Iain McKenzie being the other) and that my political career is over.
While this could in part be put down to the heat of the moment a look at social media over the past couple of days suggests that the threat is very real indeed.
A whole generation seem to have taken leave of their senses.
While the people have spoken, the divisions of this campaign could take a very long time to heal.
Wednesday, 10 September 2014
My latest Greenock Telegraph column: an appeal to Labour voters in Inverclyde...
This is the most important column I will write
during my political life.
A week tomorrow the people of Scotland go to the
polls to make the most significant decision in the history of our country.
For make no mistake: the choice we face on 18
September is of momentous proportions. If the majority of Scots vote to
separate from the rest of the United Kingdom it will change our lives for ever
and in ways that many of us probably don’t currently realise.
The full implications of our separation and divorce
from England, Wales and Northern Ireland will only become clear after we vote
and by then there will be no turning back.
The latest polls suggest that the outcome of the
referendum is on a knife edge and that voters in traditional Labour supporting neighbourhoods
will determine the final result.
The Nationalists have been working extremely hard
to convince Labour supporters in such areas that by voting Yes they will see an
end to Tory governments for ever in Scotland and that once Scotland is
independent we will always get the government we vote for. These arguments may
be superficially attractive to some but scratch beneath the surface and they
don’t hold water.
The majority of people in Scotland did not vote for
the SNP in 2011 but we still ended up with a majority SNP Government. There is
every reason to believe that following separation and the realignment of
political parties Scotland will be ruled by governments of the centre right.
For despite what many people think, Scotland is not
and has never been a socialist country. The only party to ever win a majority
of the popular vote in Scotland was the Conservative Party.
As a Council Leader I meet with Leaders from all
parts of Scotland and I know only too well that the political views and
traditions of many of them are far removed from my own.
The advances made by working people in this country
in the past 100 years – such as universal suffrage, the welfare state, the
national health service, workers’ rights, equal pay and the national minimum wage – were achieved by
working people in every part of these small islands coming together in
solidarity through the Labour and Trade Union movement.
It held true 100 years ago and it holds true now:
working people in Greenock, Port Glasgow and Gourock have more in common with
working people in Liverpool, Cardiff and Belfast than they do with the SNP’s
big business backers like Stagecoach owner Brian Souter, former RBS Chairman
Sir George Mathewson and even multi-millionaire tax exile Jim McColl of Clyde
Blowers.
Does anyone seriously think they are supporting Yes
because they want to turn Scotland into a socialist state?
The one tax policy in the SNP’s independence white
paper is a cut in corporation tax designed to benefit big business.
The break-up of Britain will only serve to weaken
the working class and the Labour and Trade Union movement. It is likely to lead
to more Tory Governments at Westminster controlling key levers of the Scottish
economy, whether or not we have a currency union, and an economic race to the
bottom as Scotland and the rest of the UK compete for jobs by cutting taxes, wages
and workers’ terms and conditions.
I am confident that the majority of Labour voters
in Inverclyde will vote No to separation. I would appeal to those currently
planning to vote Yes to think again.
If you want to build a fairer and more just Scotland
the best way to achieve that is to vote No on 18 September 2014 and vote Labour
on 7 May 2015.
Friday, 29 August 2014
This intimidation must stop...
The growing intimidation of No campaigners by elements of the Yes campaign in Inverclyde is wholly unacceptable and must stop. It has now spread from social media onto the streets.
Graffiti on walls and the destruction of No posters is bad enough, now we are seeing aggressive and threatening behaviour including verbal abuse and name calling. Even our Provost has not escaped, having been labelled a traitor on more than one occasion now.
I am becoming increasingly concerned for the personal safety of our volunteers as they walk the streets of Inverclyde to engage with voters.
Last night a group out in the Park Farm area of Port Glasgow were followed by a car with Yes supporters in it and subjected to verbal abuse. As we approach the 18 September this type of intimidation is likely to increase.
We have a democratic right to our view that Scotland and Scots are better off as part of the United Kingdom. We also have a democratic duty to speak up for what we believe in.
This kind up intimidation is an affront to democracy and must stop now.
Graffiti on walls and the destruction of No posters is bad enough, now we are seeing aggressive and threatening behaviour including verbal abuse and name calling. Even our Provost has not escaped, having been labelled a traitor on more than one occasion now.
I am becoming increasingly concerned for the personal safety of our volunteers as they walk the streets of Inverclyde to engage with voters.
Last night a group out in the Park Farm area of Port Glasgow were followed by a car with Yes supporters in it and subjected to verbal abuse. As we approach the 18 September this type of intimidation is likely to increase.
We have a democratic right to our view that Scotland and Scots are better off as part of the United Kingdom. We also have a democratic duty to speak up for what we believe in.
This kind up intimidation is an affront to democracy and must stop now.
Monday, 21 July 2014
Free speech...
I see from today's Greenock Telegraph that the leader of the local SNP Group is once again trying to deny me my right of free speech in the constitutional debate. Not content with constantly complaining about the content of my column in the 'Tele' he now wants to prevent me from airing my views on Twitter.
I simply won't let him and the other Cybernats shout me down. I have never given in to bullying.
If anyone should apologise for his conduct on Twitter it is Christopher McEleny. Not content with talking about the religious beliefs of fellow councillors on Twitter he is now trying to associate those of us who support 'Better Together' with the Orange Order in a clear attempt to use sectarianism for political gain.
I won't take any lessons in morality from him. I have never before known a councillor in Inverclyde to openly use religion in such a way for perceived political advantage.
Curiously local news reporters seem to have missed these tweets by Councillor McEleny.
The remarks that I made about the international security situation are entirely relevant to the constitutional debate. The first job of any government is the security and defence of its people.
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that breaking up the UK's army, navy, air force and security services will weaken the defence and security of not only the rest of the UK but also Scotland. The actual process of break-up will also be a major distraction that our services and Governments can do without when we live in such dangerous times.
This is one of the many reasons that I am opposed to the break-up of Britain.
I simply won't let him and the other Cybernats shout me down. I have never given in to bullying.
If anyone should apologise for his conduct on Twitter it is Christopher McEleny. Not content with talking about the religious beliefs of fellow councillors on Twitter he is now trying to associate those of us who support 'Better Together' with the Orange Order in a clear attempt to use sectarianism for political gain.
I won't take any lessons in morality from him. I have never before known a councillor in Inverclyde to openly use religion in such a way for perceived political advantage.
Curiously local news reporters seem to have missed these tweets by Councillor McEleny.
The remarks that I made about the international security situation are entirely relevant to the constitutional debate. The first job of any government is the security and defence of its people.
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that breaking up the UK's army, navy, air force and security services will weaken the defence and security of not only the rest of the UK but also Scotland. The actual process of break-up will also be a major distraction that our services and Governments can do without when we live in such dangerous times.
This is one of the many reasons that I am opposed to the break-up of Britain.
Saturday, 19 July 2014
Appointment as COSLA Labour Group Depute Leader...
At the recent COSLA Labour Group Annual General Meeting I was appointed Depute Group Leader having previously held the post of Group Secretary.
I am looking forward to working with the Group Leader Councillor Rhondda Geekie, Leader of East Dunbartonshire Council, and the other Group officer bearers to provide a strong and effective Labour voice for Scottish local government in the year ahead.
I am looking forward to working with the Group Leader Councillor Rhondda Geekie, Leader of East Dunbartonshire Council, and the other Group officer bearers to provide a strong and effective Labour voice for Scottish local government in the year ahead.
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