As Scotland’s largest town, Paisley deserves to be the biggest beneficiary of this long delayed fund. If Paisley’s full bid is successful the town centre will receive an additional £3.7m investment. This much needed investment would help enhance Paisley’s image, attract people and businesses to the area, boost community pride and support the local economy.

I have drafted a short submission to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, John Swinney, making the case for Paisley to receive its fair share of the £60m fund.

Click here to view a copy of my submission

I urge you to co-sign the submission and have the opportunity to leave a short comment expressing your support.

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Labour Members of the Scottish Parliament are calling on the Scottish Government to support mandatory minimum sentences for those who illegally carry or use knives in an attack. Recent statistics show that less than a third of those convicted of weapons offences actually went to prison. Mandatory sentences could help. Everyone in support of this proposal is encouraged to sign Wendy’s knife crime petition.

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Wendy said:

“I want to ensure safer communities for the people of Renfrewshire and instil peace of mind that when you are out and about there is no need to feel threatened.

Labour doubled the maximum sentence for knife crime and took 13,000 knives off the street in a month’s amnesty. Across Scotland last year 55 people were murdered with knives and 1,170 people were admitted to hospital with knife wounds. Clearly more needs to be done.

These are not just statistics but real people and that is why I am supporting Labour’s proposal for mandatory minimum sentences for those who illegally carry or use knives in an attack.

Our proposal for a minimum sentence sends a clear, strong message – carry a knife and go to jail.

I would like to allow the public to show their support for tougher action on knife crime. You can do so by signing my crime petition.

Local MSP Wendy Alexander is pushing proposals for a ban on billboards advertising alcohol near schools and a mandatory code of practice for retailers who sell alcohol. This would include a mandatory challenge 21 scheme, the restriction of alcohol displays to particular areas of the store and the prohibition of bulk buy promotions. Any retailer who breached the code could receive a fine of up to £20,000 and the loss of their licence.

Wendy commented on the proposed advertising ban:

“I know that alcohol abuse is common place. We need to tackle the problem. I think a ban on billboard ads near schools could help. I want to hear the views of the industry, retailers, police health organisations and other interested parties.”

“I would like to hear Buddies views on these proposals for a ban on billboards advertising alcohol near schools and a mandatory code of practice for supermarkets and other retailers. You can email me your views at Wendy.Alexander.msp@scottish.parliament.uk”

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Wendy Alexander MSP has today written to Nicola Sturgeon Cabinet Secretary of Health concerning delays in local testing procedures.

Wendy said

I have been contacted by constituents anxious about the time delay in receiving results after H1N1 virus swab tests from Dykebar – resulting in the withholding of alternative medical treatment if/when the tests proved negative for H1N1.

My constituents tell me they were informed that swabbing results would be available within 48 hours; however over 72 hours later they still waited. Cases where young children with previous conditions were becoming increasingly unwell over the period, are particularly distressing for parents. Swab tests carried out last Friday afternoon saw results not coming back until Tuesday and another constituent also tested on Friday was still awaiting contact on Wednesday, four days after their test.

My constituents say they are being told that only four persons are testing the swabs at the Dykebar testing centre thus resulting in the backlog of results beyond the 48 hr target for returning results.

Given the relatively low volumes currently coming forward for testing, I have asked the minister to clarify the current turn around times for H1N1 swab results.

St Andrew’s Academy in Paisley has received the prestigious Green Flag Award for Eco Schools. The school already has the Bronze and Silver Eco awards with the Green Flag being their latest achievement. St Andrew’s goes one step further being the only mainstream secondary school in Renfrewshire as well as East Renfrewshire to receive this noble award. It is fair to say that everyone in Renfrewshire are very proud of the endeavours the school undertook to gain the highest award for Eco Schools including local MSP Wendy Alexander to who invited the school to visit the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday to hear the final stages of the climate change debate.

Wendy said:

“I think I speak for everyone in Renfrewshire when I say many congratulations to all the students and staff involved in receiving the Green Flag Award. Their enormous efforts have been justly awarded and I hope other schools can look at the way St Andrew’s have achieved this award and inspire them to follow suit.”

Pupils visited Wendy in the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday so they could see the final stages of the debate on the Climate Change Bill, the most advanced piece of legislation on climate change in Europe.

“I was delighted to see the pupils from St Andrew’s in the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday and I do hope that they enjoyed the debate in the chamber. Their actions that led St Andrew’s to receive the Green Flag Award is keeping with the ambitions of the Climate Change Bill. St Andrew’s have shown what we can do locally to save Scotland’s environment.”

Wendy said:

“I am very pleased to be able to take part in the Breakthrough Generations Study to help establish what actually causes breast cancer. Breast Cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women in Scotland. It accounts for nearly 1 in 3 of all cancers in women. With over 900 women in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area diagnosed with the disease each year and over 250 women still dying every year in our health board area we need to find out why and I am keen to play my part.”

“Women from all walks of life will work together with scientists to try to find answers to breast cancer.”

The Breakthrough Generations Study has been set up in partnership between Breakthrough Breast Cancer and The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR). The ongoing analysis costs of the study are being met in part by Marks & Spencer, through its support of Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

If you would like to find out more about the Breakthrough Generations Study visit www.breakthroughgenerations.org.uk

Breast Cancer Facts:

• Around 4,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in Scotland, 928 alone in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board Area in 2006.

• Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women in Scotland. It accounts for nearly 1 in 3 of all cancers in women.

• More than 1,000 women die of breast cancer every year in Scotland. 259 women die from breast cancer died in 2007 in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde Health Board Area.

• It is estimated that over 80% of women diagnosed with breast cancer in Scotland will survive for at least for five years.

• The most recent estimate suggests around 1 in 100 women in Scotland have had a diagnosis of breast cancer.

• Over 80% of Breast Cancer occurs in women over 50 years of age.

• More women than ever before are surviving breast cancer thanks to better awareness, better treatments and better screening.

• Around 20 men are diagnosed with breast cancer each year in Scotland.

Breast Cancer Risk Factors:

• Although we still don’t know the exact causes of breast cancer, we do know that women who maintain a healthy weight can reduce their risk of developing the disease.

• Getting older increases a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer.

• Find out what else can increase or decrease risk at: http://www.breakthrough.org.uk/about_breast_cancer/breast_awareness_ris-factors

]]> http://www.wendyalexander.co.uk/2009/06/24/1521/feed/ http://www.wendyalexander.co.uk/2009/06/22/pde-column-22nd-june-2009-green-space-conferences-devolution-10-years-on-the-calman-commission-report-business-in-parliament-conference-swine-flu/ http://www.wendyalexander.co.uk/2009/06/22/pde-column-22nd-june-2009-green-space-conferences-devolution-10-years-on-the-calman-commission-report-business-in-parliament-conference-swine-flu/#comments Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:53:22 +0000 constituency http://www.wendyalexander.co.uk/?p=1490

The Health Board has backed down reinstating lab testing of H1N1 virus due to sustained local pressure. As of Friday, patients with symptoms of H1N1 will be referred for testing.

Wendy Alexander MSP commented on this issue and the concerns of local parents of effected schools.

I have been concerned by the confusion that seems to be emerging around testing procedures, establishing who is affected by the virus and then letting parents know.

Following approaches from parents at Springbank Nursery and various local schools I have spoken again today to the Chief Medical Officer of Health urging the reinstatement of quick lab testing rather than “clinical diagnosis” by GPs which can leave parents unsure about a diagnosis and lead to delays in testing and then telling other parents and pupils.

Scotland’s top doctor Chief Medical Officer Harry Burns announced the change in lab testing policy on Thursday.

I can confirm that Glasgow are restarting testing for all suspected cases as of tomorrow. They have arranged rapid turnaround of test results so that patients will only get Tamiflu if they have a positive test. I think this is important for tracking the spread of the outbreak. It may be that, in due course, testing becomes unnecessary and stops but, at present, we have agreed with Glasgow that it should continue.

Wendy commented on this announcement:

I am delighted that after drawing Scotland’s top doctor’s attention to the issues highlighted in the PDE in recent days policy has now changed. From now on Glasgow Clyde Health Board will reinstate lab testing on all suspected cases. This should give quicker diagnosis and greater reassurance to all those who fear they may have been affected or in contact with the virus.

70% of criminals convicted for handling an offensive weapon in 2007/08 in Strathclyde did not get sent to jail. Wendy has stepped up her knife crime campaign by releasing shocking figures which show how many criminals caught with an offensive weapon are given a community sentence or fine, rather than a jail sentence. New official government figures show that in Strathclyde only 30% of all those convicted for handling a weapon actually went to jail, 32% were sentenced to serve a community sentence and 26% had to pay a fine.

Wendy said:

“I believe if you carry a knife you should go to jail – it’s that simple.”

“Knives are lethal weapons and it’s completely unacceptable to walk the streets with one. It’s about time the law toughened up on those who think it is acceptable to carry a blade.”

“The SNP Government is sending out the wrong message. I have already demanded that the SNP Government introduce mandatory sentences for knife crime and I will demand it again and again until it is introduced. This is the only way we can make the streets of Renfrewshire a safer place for everyone. The current system of sentencing is not working and until it is fixed peoples’ lives are at risk.

“The message that must be sent is simple, ‘carry a knife and go to jail.’”

Labour’s Shadow Justice Secretary, Richard Baker MSP added:

“Knife crime claims far too many lives in Scotland. That is why Scottish Labour doubled the maximum sentence and now wants to go further still with the introduction of a minimum sentence.”

“Kenny MacAskill has dithered over the Licensing Scheme and is alarmingly complacent over sentencing. The SNP are soft on knife crime and it is time that the public were listened to.”

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I WRITE this in the Donald Dewar library of the Scottish Parliament. The symbolism appealed. Because as the sound and fury of elections, expenses, political coups and counter coups fade – what will endure?

 I am convinced that tomorrow’s Calman Commission report on the future governance of Scotland will endure. 

It was in Donald’s footsteps that I proposed the establishment of a constitutional commission on St Andrew’s Day 2007. My message to Scottish Labour was clear: “When Labour are the party of ideas on the constitution it typically commands support. There is unfinished business from the 1999 Scotland Act and it is Labour’s job – in partnership with other parties – to fix it. As Donald Dewar said “it would be absurd to pretend that ours is the last word on the constitutional settlement”. Scotland wants to see a future that allows it to walk taller within the UK without walking out. And the Union needs to be a comfortable home for all its members.” 

The process required to deliver these objectives would be equally challenging. Predictably there were many sceptics convinced it would never get off the ground, would never be a commission, would be strangled at birth by Westminster and would be timid in its conclusions. Such critics neither knew their history nor their man. 

The pre-requisite for success was that it had to originate in Scotland and be genuinely cross-party. But it had also to go beyond the parties. This was too important to become a Brown, Cameron, Campbell/Clegg party political horse-trade. Experience in framing the Scotland Act convinced me of the need for expert financial advice free from Treasury and Whitehall self-interest. And in Ken Calman we secured an individual of stature and principle, his own man, with a canny eye to political realities.

With these ingredients the commission could bring fresh thinking to the debate, rigour to its analysis, and critically provide the basis for cross-party consensus around its solutions. It would stand full square in the tradition of the Constitutional Convention two decades previously. 

Lest this sounds straightforward, it was a long and winding road. But history teaches that constitutional change has never been gifted to Scotland. It has to be fought and argued for. Two decades previously, Donald had schooled a young generation of Scottish Labour activists well. He never wasted his time briefing the media about Labour leader Neil Kinnock’s reservations – he simply led Scottish Labour into the right place. By endorsing the Claim of Right he brought the weight of Scottish Labour, behind consensual, non-partisan constitutional change so creating the foundations for fulfilling the aspirations of the Scottish people. It was brave, it was lonely, but it worked. 

But the Calman Commission is far more than just a Labour story. Annabel Goldie and Nicol Stephen both showed remarkable personal commitment and forbearance in getting this unique Scottish Parliamentary/UK Government-sponsored commission under way. 

In giving birth to the Commission and letting it go about its business, all of Scotland’s main opposition parties deserve credit. The Tories for coming on board despite thereby potentially tying their own hands in the future, the Liberal Democrats for their willingness to compromise and Labour – both at Holyrood and Westminster – for allowing ideas more radical than many foot soldiers favoured to flourish. The SNP adopted their traditional opposition, a reprise of their posture of the earlier Constitutional Convention. 

Tomorrow’s report will shape the next phase in Scotland’s journey – template, or road map, for the cooperative evolution of Scotland’s relationship with the UK. The consensus built amongst Commission members should become a consensus among political parties. 

We will have to wait until tomorrow for the detail but expect radical plans to strengthen the financial accountability of the Scottish Parliament. Already trailed are plans for the Scottish Parliament to receive half the income tax raised in Scotland, a tax-sharing idea that hails from Canada from where the commission heard evidence. I will be looking for additional tax choices for the Scottish Parliament to complement existing powers over council tax and non domestic rates, and also new borrowing powers.

 Also expect a range of common-sense measures to improve relationships between Holyrood and Westminster. Whilst the powers of the Scottish Parliament are not likely to change much reflecting the durability of the original 1998 Act.

So what is in it for the Scottish people? A more accountable parliament. Calman’s recommendations will mean Scottish politicians, whatever their hue, will not be able to simply blame Westminster. In future they will have wider budgetary powers and will have to defend those choices to the Scottish people. The Scottish people will no longer find it credible to blame Westminster every time there is a tough decision to be made. From tomorrow Calman will start to call time on that lazy politics.

Rome was not built in a day. No plan is perfect. Financial change is both slow and complex. But from tomorrow the blueprint is in place.

For Scottish Labour, Calman should act as an inspiration. We can retain our distinctive voice on the governance of Scotland. Donald – my real mentor in politics – advocated doing what you believe is in the nation’s best interests because in so doing you also best serve your party. 

I salute Ken Calman, his commission and their secretariat for their tireless work over recent months. Tonight they can sleep easy; they have opened a new chapter in Scotland’s political history.