A momentous year...

I would like to wish all my constituents a happy and prosperous New Year.

2014 could be a momentous year for all of us. With the independence referendum in September we face the very real prospect of the breakup of our United Kingdom: over 300 years of common history swept away in a tide of nationalist fervour.

It certainly will be a momentous year for me on a personal level as I reach the ripe old age of fifty!

When I first became involved in politics over 30 years ago it was to help change my community and my country for the better. That continues to be the motivation for me doing what I do.

There is still much I would like to change about my country but I am quite certain that I don’t want to change countries. Separation might be the road to a socialist paradise for some: it is not for me.

I am proud to be Scottish and proud to be British. I see no need to choose between the two. The bonds between the peoples of these islands should be cherished and celebrated not broken asunder. Ours is the most successful political union in history.

We Scots are not an oppressed people. We have been at the very heart of the British state and empire since the Act of Union, wielding significant power and influence.

We are also not a homogeneous people. There are as many social and political differences between Scots as there are between Scots and people from England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

It is very revealing that the majority of our young people appear to be rejecting separation. Young people have less regard for borders and national differences. They are more interested in what unites than divides us.

Young people feel a real sense of connection to our friends, family and neighbours in the rest of the UK. They are outward-looking and don’t want to put up barriers to opportunity. 

My number one political priority in 2014 will be to campaign for Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom. I fervently believe as a nation we are stronger together and that we would be significantly weaker apart.

On the campaign trail in Cowdenbeath...

My colleague James McColgan and I went through to Cowdenbeath today to support fellow Labour Councillor Alex Rowley, Labour's candidate in the upcoming by-election for the Scottish Parliament. We were joined by a number of colleagues from Renfrewshire Council, including Council Leader Mark MacMillan.

It was great too see so many Labour Party members out supporting Alex today, giving up time from their Christmas holidays. With the by-election only a few weeks away Fife Labour are taking nothing for granted.

The week ahead...

A short week due to the Christmas holidays:

Monday
A full day at work. In the evening I have my final surgery of 2013 in Clune Park Community Resource Centre.
Tuesday
At work until mid afternoon then off for the next three days.
Wednesday
Public holiday
Thursday
Public holiday
Friday
On holiday from work. May be popping through to Fife to do some work in the Cowdenbeath Scottish Parliament by-election.

Marking a key milestone...

Last week saw the opening to pupils of the new Port Glasgow Community Campus, a key milestone in the Council’s school estate strategy as it marks the completion of the rebuilding of both our secondary and additional support needs estates. This is a tremendous achievement for the Council and all those who have played their part in bringing it about.

When I look back to 2007 things were not quite as bright. The then Liberal Democrat Administration had decided to refurbish both Port Glasgow and St Stephen’s High Schools and to rezone catchment areas to fill up surplus places. Notre Dame and St Columba’s were to be merged in a new school in Dunlop Street and there were no plans on the table for refurbishing or replacing Lilybank and Glenburn Schools or the Mearns Centre.

I remember standing up at a full Council meeting just before that year’s election and being ridiculed by Lib Dem Councillors when I promised that an incoming Labour Administration would change their plans and produce a more comprehensive and inclusive school estate strategy that placed our children with additional support needs at the very heart of it.

Six years on we have delivered on that promise with the new Clydeview Academy and the new Notre Dame, St Columba’s, Port Glasgow and St Stephen’s High Schools. We have brought Lilybank and Glenburn together in the new state of the art Craigmarloch School and the Mearns Centre has been replaced by the new Lomond View Academy.

Easily the most contentious proposal back in 2007 was for Port Glasgow and St Stephen’s High Schools to share a campus. Some saw this as the slippery slope to integration while others felt it did not go far enough as they wanted a single school. I remember being warned by one of my then Labour colleagues that Port Glasgow was not yet ready for a shared campus and that we would face major opposition if we went ahead with the proposal.

He was certainly right that there was opposition, much of it covert rather than overt. It was the most difficult period of my political career to date, more challenging even than this summer’s gypsy travellers’ site consultation and that is saying something!

I am glad to say however that we were able eventually to bring most of the key stakeholders on board by developing a shared understanding and vision of what we wanted to achieve. 

The rest is history as they say.

The school communities of Port Glasgow and St Stephen’s High Schools have risen to the challenge. They have demonstrated that people of different denominations and none can co-exist in an atmosphere of mutual trust and respect. They are setting an example to us all.

The new campus is a superb environment, in which our children can learn and achieve their potential. It supports the sustainability of Port Glasgow by guaranteeing the continuation of denominational and non-denominational secondary education for future generations and it builds on the legacy of Lilybank and Glenburn Schools by providing our children and young people with additional support needs with the facilities they so richly deserve.

I am immensely proud of this achievement.

The week ahead...

Monday
At work until early afternoon then down to Greenock for a meeting of the Policy & Resources Executive Sub-Committee at 2.30 and the Inverclyde Alliance Board at 3.30. In the evening I will be attending the Notre Dame High School Christmas Concert in Greenock.
Tuesday
I have taken a day's leave from work as I am on the interview panel for the post of Head of Legal and Property Services. The interviews are scheduled to last all day. In the evening I will be attending a River Clyde Homes Board social event.
Wednesday
At work until mid afternoon then down to Greenock for an all members' budget update briefing and a meeting of the Labour Group.
Thursday
At work until lunchtime then to Greenock for a meeting of the Riverside Inverclyde Board. I will then be returning to work in Glasgow for a meeting at 6.00.
Friday
At work all day.

The week ahead...

Monday
I have an early morning meeting with Clyde Valley Council Leaders in Glasgow, then off to work for the rest of the day. In the evening I will be chairing a meeting of the Clune Park Regeneration Task Group.
Tuesday
At work all day. In the evening I have a surgery at Kilmacolm Community Centre followed by a meeting of Park Farm Tenants' and Residents' Association.
Wednesday
At work in the morning then heading to Kilmacolm Primary School for the Nativity Show. This is followed by my weekly meeting with the Chief Executive and the Labour Group. In the evening I will be attending the Clydeview Academy Christmas Concert in Greenock Town Hall.
Thursday
At work most of the day. In late afternoon I will be attending an event to mark the first year of the I Youth Zone in Greenock and then a meeting of the Riverside Inverclyde Board Appointments' Panel.
Friday
A day off work to attend the COSLA Convention in Edinburgh.

The week ahead...

Monday
At work for most of the day with the exception of a mid afternoon meeting in Glasgow with Scottish Labour Leader Johann Lamont and other Labour Group Leaders. In the evening I will be chairing a meeting of the Port Glasgow Community Campus Working Group in the new campus. Members of the Working Group will receive a guided tour of the campus, which is due to be handed over this week by the contractor.
Tuesday
At work until late afternoon then down to Greenock for a meeting with the Managing Director of McGills Buses and Council officials to discuss local transport issues. In the evening I am attending the Port Glasgow Old People's Welfare Council Christmas Dinner in Port Glasgow Town Hall.
Wednesday
At work in the morning. In the afternoon I have my weekly meeting with the Chief Executive and a meeting of the Labour Group. I will then be attending the switch on of the Christmas lights in Port Glasgow.
Thursday
At work until early afternoon then down to Greenock for a meeting with the Principal of West College Scotland followed by a full Council meeting. I'll then be attending the switch on of Greenock's Christmas lights.
Friday
A full day at work followed by attending the switch on of the Christmas lights in both Quarrier's Village and Kilmacolm.

The Clutha Bar tragedy...

Like most people I was was deeply shocked and saddened by Friday night's tragic accident at The Clutha Bar in Glasgow. My thoughts and prayers are with all those involved and in particular the family of local police constable Kirsty Nelis.

The Council's flags will fly at half mast this week as a mark of respect for those who have lost their lives.