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Message from Harriet Harman... Today, George Osborne delivered a Budget that will throw people out of work, hold back economic growth and damage the public services we all rely on. The Tories have broken their promise to be fair, with tax increases and benefit cuts that will hit hardest at the people who can least afford it. Please click here to see the biggest casualties of this Budget – and what you can do to help The Tories are trying to duck responsibility for their reckless policies by pretending they have no choice about how deep and how fast they...
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SNP GET THE RESULT THEY CAMPAIGNED FOR
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SNP GET THE RESULT THEY CAMPAIGNED FOR Labour today accused the SNP of "barely being able to hide their glee" after the Lib Dems ushered David Cameron into Downing Street. Labour MP for Glasgow East Margaret Curran said: "The SNP can barely hide their glee. This is the result they secretly wanted. "They campaigned for Labour to lose the election, they fought to reduce the number of Labour MPs, they stood candidates against Labour, they repeatedly called for Gordon Brown to resign. "And when they had the chance, they voted with the Tories on 2 out of 3 occasions. "Alex...
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Broomhouse / St. Josephs Swap
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Council Abandons School Switch! Edinburgh Labour today condemned the Council's handling of the proposed switch of Broomhouse and St Joseph's Primary Schools. A meeting of the Council's Education Committee has agreed not to proceed with the proposals and instead will seek legal guidance from Scottish Ministers and ask the two schools and their respective communities to work with the Council to identify a longer term solution to accommodation issues. Labour's Education spokesperson Councillor Ricky Henderson said "This issue has been mishandled from the outset and has caused unnecessary concern and upset in the local community. This last minute, cobbled...
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Council Labour Group Leader Andrew Burns reacts to outstanding results for Labour in Edinburgh! 'Roll on 2011' I know I need to stop obsessing about election results - the sooner I get back down to that allotment the better frankly ;-) ... but, indulge me and have a look at the local paper's prediction for Edinburgh West here, which was made last Wednesday - a perfectly rational prediction that read: Edinburgh West The Lib Dems have little to worry about in the seat which gave them their second biggest majority in the UK at the last general election. Ex-policeman Mike...
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GENERAL ELECTION IN SCOTLAND KICKS OFF - GENERATION OF OPPORTUNITY AT RISK - VOTE FOR THE SNP, LIB DEMS WILL USHER IN TORY GENERATION OF AUSTERITY Scottish Labour today kicks off its election campaign after the Prime Minister confirmed the election would take place on 6 May. Labour activists and members in Scotland will aim to speak to 50,000 voters in target seats in over the next 36 hours by using our "virtual phone bank" - a new online telephone system for members to use at home - and traditional methods like street stalls and door-to-door knocking. Jim Murphy and...
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LABOUR’S BUDGET TO PROTECT FRONT LINE SERVICES
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Edinburgh Council's Labour Group today announced that they will be protecting front line services in their budget. Where the proposals by the Lib Dem/SNP Administration are to slash budgets for the city’s schools and most vulnerable, Labour will not allow any savings to be taken from these areas. Labour Finance Spokesperson, Councillor Ian Murray said, “This discredited Administration have published proposals to slash school budgets, close 8 community centres, take over £3m out of care for the elderly and the disabled and decimate grants to voluntary and charitable organisations." The Labour Group are also angry at the fact that the...
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Disappointment at continued closure of swimming pool
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Edinburgh Council have confirmed that the swimming pool at Warrender Swim Centre will remain closed for at least another 3 months to allow for rooflight glass panel replacement work to be carried out. On 5th November last year, a rooflight glass panel "spontaneously shattered", injuring a swimmer who was in the pool at the time. European procurement legislation has been blamed for not carrying out repairs more quickly. A tendering exercise had to be carried out and means that it will take a further 12 - 15 weeks to complete. Local Councillor and Labour's Culture and Leisure spokesperson, Paul Godzik,...
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Call to Release Gathering Papers
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Gathering papers must be released Labour Culture and Leisure Spokesperson, Paul Godzik has again called for all papers regarding the proposed 'bail out' of the Gathering 2009 Ltd to be made public. Recent freedom of information requests, to both the Council and the Scottish Government, have been refused, and an emergency motion put to the Council today was deferred by the Lord Provost. However, given ongoing speculation and an admission by Councillor Dawe that 'due diligence' had not been completed at the time of the original announcement on 15th October, Councillor Godzik...
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McLaren gives lesson in contradiction and duplicity Embattled Education Leader, Councillor Marilyne McLaren publicly admitted today that she had made a mistake and that Lismore Primary School “should have been closed earlier” than Christmas 2008. Councillor McLaren, who voted for the school to stay open in 2004, made the admission to a question by Labour Councillor Maureen Child who said today: “This may well come as a shock to local people and not least her SNP coalition colleague, Mike Bridgeman, who was formerly Chair of the Lismore Action Group, came into politics to save...
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DISCREDITED EDIE CHALLENGED
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Discredited Health & Social Care Convener Paul Edie has been challenged on the failures of the LibDem/SNP Administration’s homelessness strategy. Councillor Edie, who is under similar pressure over the lib Dem/SNP Administration’s disastrous Social Care Tender, avoided answering questions on recent problems with homeless services caused by organisations having insufficient funds to carry to services given that they have bid too low to meet the requirements of tenders. After questioning the Convener, Councillor Ewan Aitken said: “I am extremely disappointed by the Convener’s response, just as in the social care tender Cllr Edie is...
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An independent investigation ordered into 'Care and Support Services' tendering Significant developments with the Care and Support Services tender Contracts for the provision of Care and Support Services We've just learned, very late this afternoon, that the Council's Chief Executive is postponing any award of the Care and Support Services contracts. An independent investigation is being launched into the whole process, which will report back to the Council in January 2010. The special meeting of the Finance and Resources Committee will still go ahead tomorrow, but it will simply last a few minutes and the Convener will announce the intention...
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Local press are covering the Annual Residents Survey this afternoon - you can see the story here - and the local SNP/Lib-Dem Administration are clearly trying to pin the blame for some truly appalling 'satisfaction with the Council' statistics on the trams, and the trams alone. ... now, even long-term supporters of the project would accept that the ongoing construction of the route is hardly endearing the public to trams at the present moment - but to try and avoid all political responsibility for some shocking figures by blaming one project just won't wash. Please do have a look at...
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Evicted from the Full Council
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Statement from Edinburgh Labour Leader Andrew Burns after being evicted from the Full Council meeting on 25th June 2009. 'No - that headline isn't a joke ... I really have just been evicted from the Full Council meeting (around 1pm) for apparently behaving offensively? Even my most ardent political opponents have been texting to say they're stunned. Seriously. Here's what happened: The whole episode occurred during 'Council Leader's Report/question time', when Cllr. Jenny Dawe (the Council Leader) answered a question from Cllr. Ian Perry (one of my Group colleagues) about EDI, and I responded with a further question. She thereafter...
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Burns calls for clarification on misleading Council house claim
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Edinburgh Labour's Andrew Burns has challenged Council leader Jenny Dawe on a claim that the Liberal Democrat/SNP Administration "has built the first council housing in Edinburgh for a generation". At today’s Council meeting Councillor Dawe was forced to withdraw the claim, printed in her leaders report, and also admitted that more social housing was provided year on year under the previous Labour administration than is currently being provided by the Lib Dem/SNP coalition. Figures presented to the meeting by Councillor Burns show that affordable housing completions are expected to drop from a high of...
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Labour Demands Apology over "Failing Schools" slur.
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Labour Education Spokesperson Ricky Henderson has demanded Education Convenor Marilyne MacLaren apologise to teachers, pupils and parents for branding 3 city schools as "failing". Answering a question at today's City of Edinburgh Council meeting Cllr MacLaren described Wester Hailes Education Centre, Craigroyston and Castlebrae High Schools as "failing schools". Cllr Henderson said "Cllr MacLaren should issue an immediate apology to these schools. Her comments are disgraceful and are a complete insult to staff who have worked hard over recent years to support young people in these areas, sometimes under difficult circumstances. If she will not apologise she must visit these...
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Full Council meeting this week in Edinburgh ... the main agenda can be found here, and all the papers are up on CPOL: you can search for them here. I'll regret saying this - but, surprisingly for a June meeting, the main agenda seems remarkably light and perhaps it may be a quicker gathering than I'd first anticipated? That's probably the 'kiss if death' and we'll be stuck in the Chamber until 10pm now :-( Posted by Andrew at Tuesday, June 23, 2009...
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Sad I know, but I've just listened to the statement from the Education Secretary --- pretty thin gruel; but much, much worse was her response (in questions thereafter) to Ken Macintosh wherein she said that now new money was being made available (a point that is questionable in itself?) then it would be up to Local Authorities to deliver the schools. Astounding --- not only has she failed to name ANY (Local Authorities or) schools to be built today (that will apparently have to wait until September 2009) she clearly plans to blame Local Authorities for the subsequent failure to...
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....FROM LABOUR GROUP LEADER ANDREW BURNS' BLOG Lies, damned lies and statistics ... again This other Evening News story from yesterday - about a possible Council pay freeze - is pretty grim in its telling ... summary follows: Liberals and Nationalists have been running Edinburgh for two years. everything in those two years has been wonderful - everything! everything in the previous 23 years was awful - everything! a Liberal is the current Finance spokesperson he has form on taking responsibility seriously the UK budget isn't set until next week there may be a Barnett consequential, in terms of additional...
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Labour slams SNP's lack of action on homes
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At the start of the week, Labour's Shadow Health Secretary Cathy Jamieson challenged Housing Minister Alex Neil to ‘stop dithering' and provide homeowners in Scotland with the same protection against repossession as those in England and Wales. The Scottish government announced that a ‘repossessions group' would report by the end of April if they deemed that the law in Scotland needed to be changed. But the time for reports is over and immediate action is needed. Shadow Health Secretary Cathy Jamieson said: "Homeowners in Scotland deserve the same protection from repossession as those south of the border. Whilst we welcome...
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Today during First Minister's Questions, Labour leader Iain Gray called on the First Minister to "make good on his guarantee" in the budget that if apprentices are made redundant they can still finish their training. Iain Gray said: "During the Budget negotiations, as part of Labour's proposals I suggested an Apprenticeship Guarantee - a personal guarantee, to every apprentice, that if they are made redundant, they can still finish their training. The First Minister agreed. "The economic situation is global and it is complicated. But the measure of how we respond will be the extent to which we protect the...
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