Labour MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South
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RECYCLING IN RENFREWSHIRE Of course it’s welcome news that Renfrewshire is now recycling more than ever before. Since November 9th, 1,638 tonnes of waste have been recycled. This includes items such as textiles, cardboard, mixed plastics, cans and tins and paper. I really do think that environmental issues are only...
more...HAPPY NEW YEAR! First things first. As its my first column of 2010 let me wish readers of the Paisley Daily Express a Happy New Year! I hope this year brings you health and happiness and brings us all a more peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world. Lets hope the new...
more...WORKING FOR ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE IN COPENHAGEN Here in Paisley we know a bit about flooding. In the early nineties we experienced the misery of devastating flooding, and one of my first roles as a new MP was winning extra cash for flood prevention defences around Renfrewshire. Maybe that...
more...ST PAUL’S DOES US PROUD BUT TEACHER CUTS REACH CRISIS POINT Last week I visited St Paul’s Primary in Foxbar on the day the Literacy Commission published its report on literacy in Scotland. That report made sobering reading and reminded us all of the challenge we face to tackle illiteracy...
more...CUTS IN THE CLASSROOM Another week, another story about the cuts in our classrooms. This week I met a local teacher who told me she’s now having to fundraise simply to install the whiteboards her pupils need. Renfrewshire Council have inflicted cuts to both our secondary and our primary schools,...
more...MAKING SURE RENFREWSHIRE GROUPS CASH IN ON LOTTO CASH Last Thursday a meeting was held in the Wynd Centre to bring together groups and charities from across Renfrewshire and funding organisations that can help them. For years I’ve been campaigning and working to make sure local organisations here in Renfrewshire...
more...I’LL KEEP SPEAKING UP FOR OUR SCHOOLS Last week Councillor Jim McQuade attacked me in the letters column of the Paisley Daily Express for speaking up against the cuts to school budgets being made here in Renfrewshire by the SNP led Council. He said my condemnation of the cuts would...
more...BUS CHIEF TALKS Here in Paisley we are well served by having both the Canal Street and Gilmour Street train stations. Despite the fact that as Scotland ’s largest town, we don’t have a dedicated Bus Station – instead having to make do with the Central Way – but buses...
more...TACKLING THE CREDIT CARD COWBOYS I recently visited the Paisley Citizens Advice Bureau in George Street. There, I took the chance to sit down with Manager, Stephen Darroch, to discuss the caseload of the centre and our conversation confirmed the scale of the problem of personal indebtedness we’re facing here...
more...QUESTION TIME AT ST DAVID’S Last week it seemed everyone was talking about the BBC’s decision to have the BNP represented on Question Time. Yet on Friday I was taking part in a Question Time of a different kind. I went to the new shared campus in West Johnstone that...
more...BIN THE “RUBBISH” PROPOSALS On Saturday I was out talking to Paisley residents about Renfrewshire Council’s proposals to introduce fortnightly bin collections. Last week I, like many local residents, received a letter from the Council talking about the need to raise levels of recycling here in Renfrewshire. I fully agree...
more...A PUPIL’S PLEA SHOWS THE TRUE COST OF COUNCIL’S CUTS This week I received a letter from a school pupil at Johnstone High School. The letter told me that on their return to school this year, this pupil had been informed by two different departments that they would have to...
more...MEETING LANCE TO THANK HIM FOR HIS PAISLEY PEDAL For many years I’ve worked to promote Paisley and encourage tourists to visit Renfrewshire. So I was absolutely delighted when the seven times winner of the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong, chose to come to Renfrewshire last week and make a 90...
more...SUPPORTING THE NHS JOHN SMITH FOUGHT FOR ALL HIS LIFE It’s been a week when our NHS has both been in the headlines and in my thoughts. This past week the papers have been filled with headlines about the British NHS. In the United States, President Obama has been trying...
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