SNP Freeze Council Tax Again to Protect Families Income

The Scottish National Party have said that they will freeze the Council Tax across Scotland again this year to protect the income of Scottish families during these difficult financial times.

This is something that I welcome. At the moment the council tax is unfair as it is never mind putting it up which would hit the poorest in our society. It is clear that this decision has been made to make sure that families with low incomes do not suffer a tax hike in these difficult times, something that Labour do not support. Labour have said that they would like to raise the council tax across Scotland which would plunge families into serious financial difficulties. Until we have a fair Local Income tax which is based on the ability to pay, the council tax hurts the poor even when frozen. The freeze is a temporary measure that the SNP have implemented since 2007 to help everyone in Scotland.

The SNP have also said that Scotland will have free prescriptions by April 2011, another measure that will help everyone in Scotland during these difficult times. Labour never made any effort to abolish the charges in Scotland but did so in Wales. It is clear that only the SNP will stand up for the people of Scotland in these difficult times. The SNP believe that those with the broadest shoulders should bare the biggest burden during these times where things are becoming more expensive and people having to tighten their belts. These policies will help people keep that little bit extra money for everyday living. Labour on the other hand would like the poorest to pay for their mismanagement of the economy. The Tories seem to enjoy cutting public services in England with the Lib-Dems propping them up, including privatisation of NHS services, which Labour started before they left office. The SNP will stop the privatisation of the NHS at the border.

Even in these difficult times, and with limited powers in the Scottish Parliament, the SNP is making a real difference for the people of Scotland. Just imagine what they could do with more powers for the Scottish Parliament and the powers that come with independence. We, together, can make Scotland better. Be Part of Better. www.bepartofbetter.net

Posted by Austin Sheridan.

Truth About Youth

Yesterday I attended an event in Glasgow's St Mungo's Museum along with Rachael Cahill MSYP, for Glasgow Kelvin, and Keenan Alexander MSYP, for Glasgow Springburn, and other young people from my own constituency and other young people from across the whole of Glasgow. The event was called 'Truth About Youth' and was facilitated by Young Scot and The CO-OP. At the event we learned how the group wants to create more positive stories for the media to report.

At the event we all discussed the best way forward to help change the perception of young people in Glasgow. Many ideas were raised about how young people can engage with the media more. Something that all young people agreed on was that we would not want the media to stop reporting bad stories about young people as people have a right to know what is going on in their society. What we did say is that the media should print more positive stories about young people to help people in Glasgow get a balanced view of young people and show that the minority do not represent the majority.

We decided as a group that the best way for this to actually happen is to create an online bank of positive stories about young people that the media can report on if they wish. The idea is that this would make it easier for the media to find positive stories about young people because like any kind of stories, the bad stuff is more noticeable and tends to overshadow the good things in society.

With this idea we also thought that it would be good for young people to have more contact with journalists from all different kinds of newspapers so that they can work with young people on stories which lets them experience the 'decent side' of the younger generation as well as giving the young person taking part great experience on what it is like to work in the world of media.

I wish this project all the best and I look forward to working with the Truth About Youth team in the future.

If you have any questions please contact me at: austin.sheridan.msyp@sypmail.org.uk

Posted by Austin Sheridan MSYP.
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Mundell should call a By-Election in Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale

Scotland's only Tory MP David Mundell should call a by-election in Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale as it has become known that he broke electoral rules and overspent on his campaign. David Mundell MP protests that it was a mistake as he did not look over his election spending properly. David Mundell MP has now been reported to the head of the prosecution service for breaking electoral law. The top punishment for this crime is being fined £5,000 and expulsion from Parliament.

David Mundell MP has claimed that it was "an error" and was an "innocent mistake". Mr Mundell has admitted that he was in the wrong. I am not saying that he should pay the full penalty but there should be a By-Election in the constituency he represents as he had an unfair advantage over all of the other candidates standing in Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale. The only fair way to straighten this out is to re-run the election in this constituency. It wouldn't even bother me if David Mundell MP was the candidate, if there was a by-election, we would know he won or lost the seat fairly. Until this happens Mr Mundell's mandate is questionable.


Posted by Austin Sheridan MSYP
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