Holyrood 2011 is over, now Alex Salmond and the SNP Government are straight back doing what they do best, protecting the vulnerable in society

Dear All

Care for the most vulnerable is something which we as a society have to take very seriously.

This has prompted Alex Salmond to speak out about plans to demolish a local authority care centre to make way for a Commonwealth Games development.

Accord Centre in Dalmarnock cares for people who require substantial help in their daily lives.

Because these people are high dependency, they need the Accord Centre in Glasgow to say open and the Council need this type of facility.

Personal Care plans which allow people in conjunction with social workers to buy services are a good thing, but they don’t suit everyone.

In any system there are always winners and losers but to those who lose out, we have to be flexible to ensure we provide the best possible service.

Alex Salmond visiting Glasgow has taken the unusual step of speaking out against plans to demolish the Accord Centre to make way for a Commonwealth Games development.

The SNP in Glasgow are at the start of a year long campaign to wrest control of the city’s council from the Labour Party.

To that end the SNP will put up more candidates in all the Council multiple member wards.

This means that some Labour Councillors will find themselves out of public office for the first time in a long time.

And there will be plenty of infighting by them against each other, in some cases it is three out of four Labour Councillors in each ward.

The SNP has a decent chance of taking the city in 2012 Council elections.

If the result of Holyrood was replicated next year, the party would secure 50 of the council’s 79 seats taking control.

Glasgow would then cease to be a Labour fiefdom, run by Labour for the benefit of Labour.

These people have to go, leaving aside their shenanigans which have ended up in the public domain, the way the city is run has to change and evolve.

Glasgow City Council needs to find more ways to generate money for the city by the departments within it.

Just because it is public sector doesn’t mean it can’t be profitable public sector.

Glasgow now has 5 first past the post MSPs in the city for the 1st time, a remarkable achievement which was all done by people looking at the SNP Government’s record of success coupled with hard work.

The SNP won the Labour strongholds of Anniesland, Cathcart, Kelvin and Shettleston as well as Nicola Sturgeon having a landslide victory in Glasgow Southside.

Now, the people in these areas will have SNP MSPs public offices on major bus routes rather than Labour’s preferred option of being hidden. In some cases Labour politicians don’t even post opening hours of their offices or location.

This is to dissuade people from contacting them.

Also, the Labour Party’s problem is too many people who don’t work, want to keep the status quo at the City Chambers and continue on their merry way regarding Aleo payments on top of their Councillor salaries.

Labour is carrying too much dead wood in political office that is willing to take a full time salary in return for providing a part time service.

The Accord Centre is not as Labour Councillor of shame Matt Kerr says a ‘political football’ but rather evidence that the Labour Party have moved away from the people towards big business.

And in a sign of the new times post election, two LibDem councillors in Renfrewshire have defected to the SNP.

Mike Dillon and Marie McGurk have jumped ship after becoming disillusioned with their former party’s role in the UK Government.

In the future in Glasgow, the SNP are looking to set MACs, Moblie Advice Clincs in the heart of Glasgow City Centre, This will allow the public and the SNP to engage so people know what the SNP vision for Glasgow 2012 is and feedback ideas to elected politicians to improve the city.

It is time that Glasgow flourished again.

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University