Iain McGill selected to fight Forth Ward
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09 October 2008
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| Local man Iain McGill has been selected to fight the by-election in Forth Ward Iain McGill has been selected by local Conservatives to contest the Forth Ward by-election due to be held on 6th November. Iain said "No-one wanted this by-election, Elizabeth Maginnis was a well respected, hard working local councillor who gave so much to this area over so many years - we are worse off for her sad passing."
Iain, who is 31, is a director of an employment agency who provide social sector staff across Scotland. Before this Iain was an aid worker based overseas, and he has also worked for a number of organisations including the Cowgate Day & Night Shelter and the Bethany Christian Trust.
Iain is a Community Councillor where he is the licensing & Social Affairs convenore as well as being a member of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Small Business.
Iain said "I pledge to be a strong, tireless and committed Councillor for all the people of Forth Ward, working alongside hard working local Councillor Allan Jackson. I hope to meet as many local residents as possible over the next few weeks but please do not hesitate to contact me with any local issue."
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Constituency News
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Councillor Allan Jackson backs Iain McGill
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09 October 2008
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| Forth Wards Allan Jackson backs Iain McGill Forth Councillor Allan Jackson has backed Iain McGill to win in the by-election.
He says "Iain is a hard working individual who is dedicated to helping people. I would be happy to have Iain as a ward colleague and I strongly commend him to you"
Iain & Allan are both working full time on campaigning in the by-election, scheduled for Thursday 6th November.
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Constituency News
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Chris Grayling MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Work & Pensions to meet pensioners in Forth Ward on Monday
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10 October 2008
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| Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Chris Grayling MP will be campaigning in Forth Ward supporting local Conservative Candidate Iain McGill Chris Grayling MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions will be visiting pensioners in Forth Ward on Monday 13th along with Iain McGill, the Conservative candidate in the Forth by-election.
Chris will be finding out exactly how the credit crunch is affecting local people, and the impact that the Post Office closures programme Labour are forcing through in the face of local opposition will have on local pensioners.
Chris said "I am happy to support Iain McGill in his campaign, I know he is a hard working, honest candidate who's priority is helping the most vulnerable in society. That's why I'm happy to come up & support him."
Iain McGill said "I know that Chris takes the concerns of the residents of Forth seriously - and when I asked him to come and meet some of our elderly he did not hesitate."
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Constituency News
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Chris Grayling MP visits Goldenacre Post Office
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13 October 2008
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| Chris Grayling, Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions visits Goldenacre Post Office. Iain McGill & the local Conservative team have been working very hard to keep the post office in Goldenacre and across Edinburgh North & Leith open.
Chris Grayling, Shadow Secretary of State for Work & Pensions, visited the Postmaster today to hear his concerns and offer his support.
The Conservatives in Westminster put forwards a motion to save the Post Offices, but Labour MPs including our own voted to close them regardless.
Many of Forth Wards more vulnerable people have been using the Post Office in Goldenacre for decades and fear for it's future.
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Constituency News
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Massive response to local survey
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14 October 2008
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| Iain McGill has been delighted by the response to his local survey Iain McGill has been delighted by the response to his local survey. He
said "Thank you to all who took the time to return our survey on issues
affecting you here in Trinity. Cllr.Allan Jackson and I have taken all
the issues to the appropriate officials, and we will respond to
residents with specific answers."
The general feedback was "New council -no difference". After the
council elections last year the LibDems & the SNP joined forces to
run the Council.
Sadly, they have done virtually nothing to make our basic Council services better.
Have you seen the difference? There are still broken pavements,
potholes on our roads, weeds growing through walls and pavements,
hazardous overhanging trees & hedges, traffic calming in the wrong
places, not enough traffic calming were it is needed and antisocial
behaviour not being dealt with as there are not enough police on our
streets.
Cllr. Allan jackson has been responding to these issues, and will
continue to do so, but both he and Iain McGill believe that our area
needs more support from the Council to make our community a better
place to live.
One of the biggest issues of concern was strong opposition to the
closure of Goldenacre Post Office - opposed by the Conservatives but
forced through by Labour.
Iain McGill and the Conservatives have a real chance of winning here
and building on the achievements of Cllr.Allan Jackson - and with more
Conservatives on the Council it means there is a better chance of your
voice being heard and the problems you feed back to the Councilyear on year being resolved.
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Constituency News
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The romantic dream of independence crashes to the ground
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15 October 2008
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| Please find below a letter being sent to voters in the Forth by-election by Scottish Conservative leader, Annabel Goldie: "Dear Voter,
On 6th. November you will have to make a very important decision - voting for your new Councillor.
And people are feeling confused and worried. They’re also angry, wanting change but wondering what to do.
Some voters, and you may be
amongst them, think the only alternative is the SNP. They’re under the
delusion that the SNP is a sort of “tartan insurance policy “ on the Council – a safe option.
But it’s not. Every vote
Alex Salmond gets, stamps his passport to independence. He claims
every SNP election victory is another part of Scotland wanting
separatism.
I think the recent financial
turmoil has sent shockwaves running through Scotland. This was the week
when for thousands of people in Scotland, the romantic dream of
independence crashed to the ground against the reality of ferocious
global pressures. Pressures which have been devastating for small
countries like Iceland and Ireland and Norway.
Voting for the SNP in this by-election is not change, it’s not progress, it’s a cop out.
So I urge you to vote for Iain McGill the Scottish Conservative & Unionist candidate - the
positive choice for positive change .
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Annabel M. Goldie."
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Constituency News
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Lib Dems 'are lying' over poll figures
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21 October 2008
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| The Edinburgh Evening News today reports that Lib Dems 'are lying' over poll figures Lib Dems 'are lying' over poll figures
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/latestnews/Lib-Dems-are-lying-over.4611783.jp
Published Date: 21 October 2008
LIB Dem campaigners have been accused of "lying" to voters in north
Edinburgh by publishing "misleading" election figures.
Several leaflets being distributed as part of the Forth ward city
council by-election campaign include a graph with the headlines "it's so
close" or "it's a two-horse race here".
The statistics show Labour support at 34 per cent, with the Lib Dems
just behind on 29 per cent, the Tories on 19 per cent and the SNP on ten
per cent.
But the results are from the last general election in the Edinburgh
North and Leith constituency, which covers a much larger area. In
addition, the Forth ward also takes in part of the neighbouring
Edinburgh West constituency.
The Tories today said the only fair statistics to use were last year's
Forth ward election results, where - on first preference votes - Labour
won with 29 per cent, the SNP was second with 22.7 per cent, the
Conservatives were third with 20.2 per cent, and the Lib Dems came
fourth on 17.9 per cent.
Tory group leader Iain Whyte said: "This is just as good as lying to the
public."
Lib Dem council leader Jenny Dawe hit back and said the Tories employed
similar tactics in recent elections for the Edinburgh South
parliamentary constituency.
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Constituency News
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Elm Row Post Office saved, Goldenacre & Pilrig Toll to close.
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22 October 2008
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| Two city post offices saved but one more added to hit list of 11
The consultation period on Post Office closures in Edinburgh has now ended, and despite strong public opposition to the closure plan only 2 across the city have been reprieved.
Elm Row has though been saved, and Iain McGill has been leading the fight to retain it.
Iain says "it's been hectic, keeping the issue live in the press, such as Radio Scotland - who interviewed me live outside Elm Row Post Office and the Edinburgh Evening News, organising and submitting a petition, attending public meetings, delivering information leaflets around the area, persuading the Community Council to take a view on the closure and bringing up Chris Grayling, Shadow Secretary of State for Work & Pensions to visit our local Post Offices but after all the hard work it's worth it as we have retained it.
It's just a shame that we are still losing 2 branches in Edinburgh North & Leith.
Our local Labour MP Mark Lazarowicz voted to close the branches.
Post Offices are the lifeblood of any
community – and yet 4,000 have been shut under Labour and they are
planning to close a further 2,500 by 2009.
We
are vehemently opposed to these plans, as we believe Post Offices are
vital institutions, as important to communities as the local school or
pub.
We put forward a motion
in Parliament calling for an end to closures, but despite the support
of 20 Labour MPs, the Government managed to narrowly defeat our
proposal.
OUR PLANS TO STRENGTHEN BRITAIN'S POST OFFICES
Using Post Offices as Government GP service:
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We
will investigate a scheme whereby Post Offices operate as a ‘Government
GP’ for people who have concerns about Government services, including
tax returns and pension entitlements
Freeing up Sub-Postmasters:
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We will rewrite Sub-Postmasters' contracts and allow them to provide a greater range of products and services
Bolstering the Post Office Card Account:
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This
scheme is hugely important to millions of families without access to
bank accounts – and we will make changes so they can benefit from the
lower utility bills offered to customers paying by direct debit
Encouraging 'Council Counters':
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We will encourage local councils to see what services they could provide though Post Offices
The Edinburgh Evening News report follows
Two city post offices saved but one more added to hit list of 11
Published Date:
21 October 2008
By Ian Swanson
TWO city post offices have been saved from closure – but another one has been added to the list of branches to shut.
Royal
Mail today confirmed 11 post offices in Edinburgh will close, along
with nine in other parts of the Lothians, as part of the UK-wide drive
to shut 2500 branches.
But Calder Crossway has been dropped from the closure programme after the only bus service linking its customers to the next nearest branch in Wester Hailes was withdrawn.
And
Elm Row, at the top of Leith Walk, has also been reprieved because of
uncertainty over what the planned redevelopment of the nearby St James
Centre would mean for the post office there.
However, post
office bosses are now proposing to close the branch at Oxgangs Broadway
to make up for the two that have been saved.
They say it is just
half a mile away from the next nearest branch in Colinton Mains Drive
and there are good bus connections. A full six-week consultation on
that proposal will be launched on November 4.
Today's
confirmation that almost all the branches on the closure list published
in August will shut within the next three months will be greeted with
disappointment in communities.
More than 3000 people signed a petition to save Warrender Park post office, which stays open until 7.30pm on Saturdays.
And
council chiefs highlighted three branches they wanted spared as a
priority, including Calder Crossway, but also Cramond and Magdalene
Drive.
Edinburgh South Lib Dem MSP Mike Pringle said the decision to close Warrender Park was a "hammer blow".
Mark
Lazarowicz, Labour MP for Edinburgh North & Leith, said he was
delighted Elm Row had been saved but he was disappointed there had been
no reprieve for Goldenacre, while SNP Lothians MSP Ian McKee welcomed
the decision on Calder Crossway, but added: "It is disgraceful now
Oxgangs has been added. This sounds like pure spite."
Edinburgh
West Liberal Democrat MP John Barrett said he was "very disappointed"
neither of the threatened branches in his constituency, Cramond and
Dalmeny, had been saved.
During the six-week public consultation, Post Office Ltd received 3532 responses and attended more than 100 meetings.
Sally
Buchanan, Post Office Ltd's network development manager for Scotland,
said: "These are difficult decisions which have not been taken lightly.
We have considered carefully all the comments made.
"We
believe the amended plan offers customers across Edinburgh, the
Lothians and the South of Scotland the best prospect for a sustainable
network in the future, bearing in mind the UK Government's minimum
access criteria and the other factors it has asked us to consider."
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Constituency News
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Dawe asked for canvas apology
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23 October 2008
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| The Edinburgh Evening News today reported city leader Jenny Dawe has been asked to apologise after Lib Dem campaigners canvassed for the vote of Councillor Elizabeth Maginnis, who died last month. The Edinburgh Evening News today reported city leader Jenny Dawe has been asked to apologise after Lib Dem campaigners canvassed for the vote of Councillor Elizabeth Maginnis, who died last month.
A council by-election is being held in the Forth ward following the death of the Labour stalwart.
Former
Lord Provost Lesley Hinds said Cllr Maginnis' family received a phone
call from a Lib Dem activist, asking if they could count on her vote.
"The caller was totally unaware that Elizabeth was the previous councillor," Cllr Hinds said.
She asked Cllr Dawe: "Will you now give an apology to (husband] Michael Maginnis?"
The Lib Dem leader replied: "I wasn't aware of this. I will be speaking to Michael and I will certainly raise it with him."
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/latestnews/Dawe-asked-for-canvas-apology.4621456.jp
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Constituency News
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Fighting for Fort
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23 September 2009
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| The City of Edinburgh Council plan to close Fort Primary School There are 2 schools in Leith currently under threat of closure by the Liberal Democrats and SNP who run the City of Edinburgh Council - Royston & Fort primary schools.
The first public meeting as part of the consultation with the Council was held last night at Fort primary.
Tonight there is one at 7pm at Royston primary.
Next
Tuesday night there is one at 7pm at Trinity primary school (the
children from Fort primary are proposed to move en masse to Trinity)
The parents put forwards very sound arguements last night, and are running a very good campaign.
http://fightingforfort.wordpress.com/ tells more details,
http://apps.facebook.com/causes/302067/12694450?m=646ae194 is the Facebook cause (please do consider joining)
and for further information feel free to get in touch with me
Thanks,
Iain
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Constituency News
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Theresa May & Iain McGill
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29 September 2009
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| Member of Parliament for Maidenhead,
Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
and Shadow Minister for Women Theresa May, Member of Parliament for Maidenhead,
Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
and Shadow Minister for Women came to help Iain McGill campaign in Edinburgh North & Leith - meeting local business owners
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