The Edinburgh Reporter May 2019

8 POLITICS The Edinburgh Reporter
Ash Denham MSP
Ben Macpherson MSP
Christine Jardine MP
Daniel Johnson MSP
Deidre Brock MP
Gordon Lindhurst MSP
Gordon Macdonald MSP
Ian Murray MP
Declining numbers of music
teachers
by Jeremy Balfour MSP
THE number of dedicated
music teachers working in
Scotland’s primary schools has
plummeted by 42 per cent in the
past seven years. Latest figures
have revealed there were just
62 teachers across the country
whose main job in primaries was
to teach music last year.
That compares to 108 in 2011,
and signals a year-on-year drop
under the SNP government. We’re
not talking about a statistical blip
here – it’s a 42 per cent decrease
in the space of seven years.
It’s a thoroughly depressing
statistic, which highlights the
neglect of the SNP government
in this area, despite high-profile
campaigns to increase the
number of young people being
taught an instrument.
The cost of Trident
by Deidre Brock MP
THE UK Government doesn’t excel
at many things, but one trick it is
very good at pulling is balancing
the books on the backs of the poor
while carelessly frittering billions
of pounds on pet vanity projects.
Perhaps the most grotesque
waste of money, worse even
than that miserable act of
self-harm known as Brexit, is the
billions blown on maintaining
nuclear weapons on the Clyde.
For fifty years we’ve had the
dangerous obscenity of Trident
on our shores, serving no purpose
beyond indulging the fantasy of
British imperialists that we’re
still big boys at the table. The
spiralling cost of maintaining this
myth is money which should be
better invested in health, housing,
education, pensions and welfare
support for vulnerable citizens.
The argument that weapons of
mass destruction bring peace is
a nonsense; it’s the flawed logic
used by Trump and the US gun
lobby, that carrying weapons
Universal Credit
by Joanna Cherry QC MP
DESPITE the ongoing Brexit
madness, I have continued to
pursue the DWP on behalf of
constituents who have been left
in dire circumstances by the
failings of Universal Credit.
At Westminster, I raised the case
of a working mum who was struggling
to pay for childcare because
– although we all know nurseries
in the real world must be paid in
advance – the childcare element
of Universal Credit is still paid in
Numerous studies have shown
learning a musical instrument
not only helps a child across
other subject areas, but improves
their overall wellbeing. Yet,
according to the official Scottish
Government statistics, there
are now 10 local authority areas
which have no dedicated music
teachers working in primary
schools at all.
That will mean a significantly
reduced experience for primary
school children all over Scotland.
The SNP has been warned for
years about how important it is
for young children to be given the
opportunity to learn a musical
instrument. Yet it’s allowed
teacher numbers in this area to
completely collapse.
If this doesn’t change soon,
thousands more youngsters will
miss out on opportunities which
could shape and influence their
entire lives.
makes everyone safer. As the
UN’s Canberra Commission
on the Elimination of Nuclear
Weapons said: “So long as any
state has nuclear weapons, others
will want them. So long as any
such weapons remain, it defies
credibility that they will not one
day be used, by accident, miscalculation
or design… It is sheer
luck that the world has escaped
such catastrophe until now.” It is
also sheer luck we have not had
any major incident at Faslane
so far. Parliamentary questions
I’ve asked have revealed more
than 500 safety mishaps on the
nuclear submarines since 2006,
with more than half of them in
the last four years. We’ve got the
world’s most dangerous weapons
but they seem to be under the
control of the Keystone Cops. We
can’t wait for catastrophe before
taking action, we need to get rid
of these atrocities now. Seventy
countries have already signed
the UN treaty to prohibit nuclear
weapons – why isn’t the UK one
of them?
arrears. Recently, my team also
met the fantastic team at Broomhouse
Community One Stop
Shop to discuss the effects these
fundamental issues are having
on constituents. We heard some
shocking stories of vulnerable
people being let down again and
again by a system that they feel is
geared against them. Broomhouse
COSS does invaluable work in the
constituency and I look forward
to continuing to work with the
inspiring women we met this
week and their dedicated team of
volunteers.
Local Politicians
have their say
Trust me I’m a politician!
by Ash Denham MSP
YOU can trust some politicians,
we are not all the same. This is
suggested by the extreme right
to stop ordinary folk from voting.
It makes politics an elite subject
and destroys any chance of true
equality in representation.
Expenses scandals, free bars,
huge wage rises are used to
diminish your trust.
Holyrood does not have a free
bar, nor a subsidised bar. There is
a bar, it is open to all staff, not just
MSPs, the charges are similar to
other bars in the High Street.
I certainly did not become an
MSP for the salary. All the SNP
Social care needs cash
by Kezia Dugdale MSP
LAST year I held 36 public advice
surgeries across the city giving
constituents an opportunity to
meet with one of their regional
MSPs face to face and discuss any
of the issues that they wanted
with me.
The majority of the cases
last year were about housing,
health and concerns over Brexit;
however, the first half of this year
has been dominated by social
care casework.
Research from my office
revealed figures that show around
160 people in Edinburgh today
are receiving incomplete care
packages, over 600 people are
waiting for a package to start and
a staggering 1,200 people are still
waiting just to be assessed.
Not only are we seeing a rise
in people stuck in hospital,
unable to get home due to an
inability of local authorities to
provide adequate social care
The way out of Brexit
by Christine Jardine MP
BEFORE recess, the dominant
emotions at Westminster were
frustration and fear.
Fear that we would crash out of
the EU without a deal – a scenario
which all but the most ardent
and committed Brexiteers admit
would be bad for the country.
Frustration that so many of
us are agreed that we need to
find a way forward out of this,
but unable to overcome the
trench warfare that has come to
dominate Parliament.
Calling for a public vote
by Daniel Johnson MSP
THE fallout of the 2016 EU referendum
continues to rumble on.
To say that the Brexit process
has been shambolic to date is a
massive understatement.
As a representative of a constituency
that voted 80% remain in
that vote, I imagine that many of
my constituents will be holding
their heads in their hands having
watched the negotiations and the
voting that took place in the UK
parliament in the last month.
Ministers and Cabinet secretaries
take a salary, only at the 2007
level. The remainder is donated
back into the Scottish budget
to support the Scottish Government,
in their ambition for a fairer
Scotland. Our MSP salaries are
linked to public sector pay. We do
not award ourselves inflated pay
rises like Westminster. Of course,
my SNP Westminster colleagues
have donated their pay rise to
charity.
We are not all the same. I am
here to represent my constituents.
I am here to fight injustice. I
am here to make Scotland fairer. I
am here as your voice.
packages, the funding black hole
facing Edinburgh means hugely
damaging cuts could soon be
made to crucial mental health
and drug and alcohol services
across the city.
The services being provided in
Edinburgh are at breaking point,
and without the SNP Government
stepping in to provide essential
funding, how will the thousands
of people waiting for suitable care
packages and vulnerable people
who rely on outreach services get
help they desperately need?
Until we see a cash injection
into social care services, it’s likely
this will be the top issue constituents
coming to see me over the
coming months continue to raise
with me.
If I can be of any assistance to
you or anyone you know, don’t
hesitate to contact my office by
calling 0131 348 6894 or email
Kezia.Dugdale.MSP@Parliament.
Scot
Now that the EU extension has
given us a little breathing space
and time to find the solution
the country craves I hope that
the Conservatives will use it to
consider two vital factors.
First, that a referendum on the
deal has the momentum, of both
public opinion and parliamentary
support.
And second that it is the only
way forward. Potentially their
way out.
It’s time to end this mess and do
what’s best for the country.
The idea that is still being
perpetuated, that somehow we
will all be better off once we leave
in some way shape or form, is
to completely ignore the cost in
human terms. With our universities,
financial sector, and jobs
across Edinburgh reliant on the
EU I see no real benefit to putting
that at risk.
As time goes on increasingly the
only way forward is to take this
back to a public vote, because the
only way this will be settled is by
the public having their say.