MSP CHALLENGES LABOUR TO BACK SNP REGENERATION FUNDING CALL

MSP CHALLENGES LABOUR TO BACK SNP
REGENERATION FUNDING CALL.

SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT INVESTMENT TRANSFORMING GLASGOW,

ONLY DAVID KERR SNP HAS WHAT IT TAKES TO SPEAK UP FOR GLASGOW CITY,

SNP MSP for Glasgow, Bob Doris has challenged the Labour candidate in the
forthcoming Glasgow North East by-election to back SNP calls to secure
Glasgow's fair share of the money generated by the London Olympics.

Commenting, Mr Doris who worked on a cross party bid to secure Town Centre
Regeneration funding for Glasgow, said:

"The SNP recognise the need for investment in Glasgow in these tough
economic times.

"That's why the Scottish Government is spending over £2bn on
infrastructure in the run up to the Commonwealth Games and £842m on a new
hospital for the City. Regeneration in Possilpark is being driven
forward with £9m of SNP investment in a community health centre.

"Glasgow has also recieved more than £5m from the Scottish Government's
Town Centre Regeneration Fund - over 10% of the total released so far.

"This massive investment is transforming the Glasgow but there is still
more to be done. That's why I am calling on Labour to get behind SNP
candidate David Kerr's demands for Glasgow's fair share of the money
generated by the London Olympics.

"London Labour's refusal to allow the Scottish Government access to the
£165m of Barnett consequentials from regeneration spending in London's
East End is costing Glasgow £33m each year.

"Only David Kerr and the SNP have what it takes to speak up for Scotland
to ensure this money is invested in regenerating Glasgow - not locked in a
London bank account."



Related information,

1. Town Centre Regeneration Fund first tranche:

Independent Advisory panel recommendations (6th August 2009)

Glasgow City
Glasgow City Council
Govan Cross Improvement Works 1,300,000

Glasgow City
Maryhill Burgh Halls Trust
Maryhill Burgh Halls 1,800,000

Glasgow City
Clyde Gateway Urban Regeneration Company
Former Olympia Theatre 1,950,000

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/regeneration/town-centres/tcrf/FirstTrancheAllocations

2. SNP Scottish Government invest £9m in Possilpark Community Health Centre
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2009/01/19104447

PRESSURE GETS TO GRAY AS HE LASHES OUT AT FORMER FIRST MINISTER

PRESSURE GETS TO GRAY AS HE LASHES OUT AT FORMER FIRST MINISTER

GRAY’S RESHUFFLE DESCENDS INTO UNCIVIL WAR

Commenting on Iain Gray’s attack on the former Labour First Minister Henry McLeish this evening, the SNP Group Convener Gil Paterson said:

“Iain Gray’s reshuffle now not only looks like a panicked measure in response to the whispering campaign underway against him within the Labour group, but it has also descended into an uncivil war with his attack on a fellow party colleague.

“It just shows the depths Labour have shrunk too under Iain Gray when instead of accepting friendly advice from their own former First Minister, he responds with attack and insult. It epitomises the type of unattractive party Iain Gray is now leading.

“Labour are struggling to raise the tone of political debate in Scotland and this is just another example of their negative knee jerk approach to Scotland and Scottish politics.”

‘GRAY RESHUFFLE’ – LABOUR’S PROBLEM IS THE PERSON SUPPOSEDLY IN CHARGE QUANTITY CANNOT DISGUISE LACK OF QUALITY

‘GRAY RESHUFFLE’ – LABOUR’S PROBLEM IS THE PERSON SUPPOSEDLY IN CHARGE
QUANTITY CANNOT DISGUISE LACK OF QUALITY
Commenting on Iain Gray’s reshuffle, SNP Group Convener Gil Paterson said these were desperate measures by a desperate man, as the reshuffle was likened to shuffling the deckchairs on a sinking ship. Mr Paterson said:

“The extraordinary thing about this panicked reshuffle is that it takes 27 Labour MSPs to shadow an SNP Ministerial team of 16 – some 60 per cent of their entire parliamentary group. And Labour’s abysmal record shows that quantity is no substitute for lack of quality.

“The real problem with Labour’s Holyrood Group is the man supposedly in charge, and the whispering campaign against Iain Gray’s leadership within the Labour Party is getting louder by the day. These are desperate measures by a desperate leader – all he has done is rearrange the deckchairs on a rapidly sinking ship. Even this reshuffle is a ‘gray’ affair in all senses!

“After two years in opposition, Labour still have nothing to offer the people of Scotland. They have no new policies and no ideas – that’s according to their own senior sources, and former Labour First Minister Henry McLeish says that Labour could be out of office in Scotland for a generation unless there is fundamental change.

“Labour were voted out of office in Scotland in 2007 because of the failure of the Labour-led Executive – and according to their own senior members they are now failing as an opposition.

“For Iain Gray, it truly is the case that his political opponents sit on the benches opposite – and his political enemies still sit behind him.

“The SNP are delivering strong, effective and popular government in Scotland – with a rapid pace of policy delivery and a commanding poll lead. Well over two years after the election, no matter how many times Iain Gray shuffles the pack, Labour still cannot muster themselves as a coherent opposition.”

SNP DISMISS CAMERON ELECTION CLAIM

SNP DISMISS CAMERON ELECTION CLAIM

TWO-HORSE RACE BETWEEN SNP AND LABOUR IN SCOTLAND

Dismissing David Cameron’s General Election claim, SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson MP reminded the Tory leader that the Westminster election is a two-horse race between the SNP and Labour in Scotland, and only SNP votes and MPs can oppose the Tory/Labour cuts agenda.

Mr Robertson said:

“The reality is that the General Election in Scotland is a two-horse race between the SNP and Labour, and the Tories are an irrelevance north of the Border.

“Only SNP votes and MPs can oppose the Tory/Labour agenda to cut public services, and demand instead that the Trident nuclear weapons replacement programme is scrapped.

“Whether the next UK government is Labour or Tory, Tory of Labour, the best result for Scotland will be a balanced or hung Westminster parliament – a minority government, with a Scottish block of 20 SNP MPs fighting for and winning key objectives for Scotland.

“There are clear and achievable, and in the context of a likely emergency UK budget after the election are focussed on measures to support jobs and economic activity.

“In the current circumstances, this would include a further acceleration of some £350m of capital resources for investment in affordable housing and other key infrastructure; securing the £160m Fossil Fuel Levy for green energy projects and home insulation in Scotland; delivering £300m of Barnett consequentials which could and should come Scotland’s way as a result of Olympic regeneration and prison spending south of the border; and Treasury agreement for phasing the cost of the Fourth crossing over a longer period, given the scale and unique nature of the project.

“These are policies to maximise investment and employment in Scotland, and they can only be achieved by SNP votes in the general Election.

“A Scottish block of 20 SNP MPs will sweep away the Westminster blockage and deliver progress for Scotland. Voters in Scotland are well aware that at the next General Election neither Labour nor the Tories have anything to offer except more cuts to frontline services, while they continue to waste millions on nuclear weapons.”