The attempt by the SNP to prevent vital information getting to the public has been crushed; their decision to stop local authorities from advertising in local papers has been overturned in a humiliating climb-down by Holyrood’s ‘Mr. Cellophane’ John Swinney. This talking suit was forced to announce the ‘U turn’ due to public protest and parliamentary pressure led by the Paisley Daily Express in this area and Labour MSP’s Hugh Henry, Wendy Alexander and Trish Godman; well done to all of them. Voters will note that the ubiquitous and hapless SNP MSP Bill Wilson who is ready to man the barricades to make supermarkets label turnips as neeps and potatoes as tatties had nothing to say about the SNP removing this vital facility.
The move to computers would have meant thousands of people without access to the web would have been unable to see recruitment notices, planning applications, road closures etc. The local SNP led administration jumped on it with enthusiasm for the additional reason that councillor’s surgeries would not be advertised in the PDE making them more distant from their constituents which suited them just fine. Make no mistake about it this was a cynical attempt by an increasingly unpopular SNP Government to deny people the right to know what is going on it was a contemptuous anti democratic swindle and very typical of the SNP.
It will be easier again to see when and where your councillor is holding her/his surgeries and; considering the cuts being imposed by this SNP/ Lib. Dem. administration I hope more people will turn up at surgeries to tell them what they think of the cuts; starting with the callous and reckless cuts in school transport; their attempt to hide from the public has failed; they have no shame.
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23 comments:
Let me see if I have got this right. You want Tax payers and council tax payers to pay hundreds of thousand of pounds to the newspaper companies to advertise road closures, surgery notices and job ads.
If in the unlikly event I wanted to come to your surgery, I would have to buy a local newspaper (assuming I knew which day the ad was in) - that's about 40-50pence. I can phone your office and ask for details for the cost of about 3p. I might even be able to speak you directly. Most folk have a phone, even if they don't have a computer.
In my 50plus years of life I have never found the need to hear about a road closure in a newspaper.
As for job ads. Most local authority jobs havn't been in a newspaper for many a year. If you are looking for one, the local job centre has all the deatils of mid and lower range jobs. The library has all the national papers if you want to look for a higher range jobs.
Terry,
You are bang on the money with this issue, I hear in the halls of power, the bold Lorraine and wee Tracy McGee are wearing black arm band and being wafted with Del's smelling salts to calm the nerves, wee Tracy has told Del Boay "will you come with me to my next surgery, the people of Johnstone will know how to find me and remember that I double crossed them" (yes I know it is a large sentence for Tracey".
Well done the Labour Party one and all, now in the name of God, more please much more!
Finally Terry, I came in from work the other day, in a bad mood as I got a parking ticket, but once I heard that Andy (I'm in a West of Scotland think tank) Doig had been selected to contest Paisley South West at the General Election, I just couldn't stop laughing, cheered me up no end, this blow hard is rolled out and you may recall Rayleen mentioned this on her site many years ago, every time the SNP need a looser, Andy takes his place, front of house, this is a guy in the SNP, even more disliked than olde Bill Martin and the Boay Vassey. Last time he ranked 99th place on the SNP's West of Scotland list, you better not tell him that the list stopped at 10.
I look forward to seeing Mr Alexander and Sheridan in place, after the next elections.
Keep up the good work, I'm one happy camper.
T Flood
Back from my holy bags Down Under, I think I might have seen Mrs Cameron visiting Ramsey Street, see the things you see after a few Fosters!
The proposal for a council web portal to carry these notices was given its initial approval at a meeting of Cosla (the umbrella body for local government in Scotland) in January 2007: four months before the SNP came to power.
How can this be considered an embarrassing climbdown for John Swinney, when in fact what has happened is the proposals have been consulted upon and one which was put forward by the Lib-Dem / Labour coalition rejected?
(Anonymous) 18/03/10
I think anything that makes Cllrs. Cameron and McGee easier to find is a good thing and I hope the parents of the children who are being forced to walk to school because they have removed their transport organise some visits to let them know what they think of them.
I don’t as a rule pay much attention to the SNP candidates for Holyrood and Westminster I have yet to come across one who could be described as credible, my experience of Mr. Doig is that he is somewhere well below credible.
(Anonymous) 18/03/10
I find these comments disingenuous; the fact of the matter is that a great many people rely on the local press for information from the council and a great many don’t have access to computers and would not be able to use them anyway.
Where did you get the figure of hundreds of thousands of pounds?
“you would need to know what day to buy the paper” who are you trying to kid the overwhelming number of people who buy the local paper buy it every day.
“In my 50plus years of life I have never found the need to hear about a road closure in a newspaper”
What a stupid comment; you don’t need to hear about it, when you see it in the paper you decide whether it will affect you.
You and the SNP are bad losers.
Just had a really professional SNP newspaper delivered to the house. In it are the contact details (phone and e-mail) of all the SNP councillors. All for free. E-mailed one, just to try it out, and got a reply within two hours. Pretty good service I think.
Why do we need to pay for ads in commercial newspapers ??????
(Anonymous) 16:51
“Why do we need to pay for ads in commercial newspapers ??????”
Is this really professional SNP newspaper a daily? A weekly? A monthly?
Do you have a bulls eye target sewed on to your a**e?
I would much rather save the money and lift the phone to get in touch with my councillor - of any party.
If I needed a job I don't think I would rely on newspapers.
I have never heard of anyone buying a paper to look for road closeures - are you mad ?
(Anonymous) 19/03/10
People buy a local paper on a daily basis; councillor’s surgeries are just one part of the service they provide.
I can’t think of any newspaper which does not have a jobs/vacancies section.
People don’t buy a local newspaper to look at road closures; like jobs and councillor’s surgeries they are part of the paper; if you see a road closure notice which effects you then your local paper has done you a service; and you ask if I’m mad!
(Jim) 19/03/10
Excuse the delay Jim but I have made a couple of enquiries and I’m waiting on responses; you seem to be in a minority of one but I will still check out what you say anyway.
My initial reaction is to ask if there were any counter motions at COSLA from SNP, Tory, and Independent etc. and to ask you if you are saying that this has been consulted on for 3 years!
I also think that the portal was meant to be an adjunct to the local press and the SNP banned the local press allowing computer advertising only which clearly stinks to high heaven considering the many who do not have access to computers and wouldn’t know how to use them anyway. It’s another SNP attack on the most vulnerable in our society.
If most of the people who were given free computers under Labour's digital inclusion scheme hadn't sold them to Cash Converters then they would be easily able to access the council information.
I doubt if these same people would buy newspapers.
(Anonymous) 09:16
Have you reported these serious accusations to the correct authorities? I urge you as fellow patriot to do so right away.
You sais 'Is this really professional SNP newspaper a daily? A weekly? A monthly? '
It does not matter how often the SNP issue their well produced and inforamative newspaper- because I have mastered the art of WRITING and have noted my councillors details in my own wee phone book. Its easy - why don't you try it
Hi Terry
Here is a link to COSLA's report on Public Information Notices.
http://www.cosla.gov.uk/attachments/convention/2009/c091023item09.pdf
The principles of this were agreed between COSLA and the government before the SNP came to power.
I can well understand why local newspapers such as the PDE would be enraged at the loss of such an important cash cow and fully appreciate their right to campaign against the changes.
I don't see how Labour can view it as an embarrassing climb down for John Swinney, when it was agreed by Labour previously though.
Jim
Speaking of secrecy though, surely the culture of secrecy behind the inner workings of Glasgow Labour are a much more sinister revelation?
At least access to Salmond was through public auction rather than drug dealers.
(Anonymous) 21/03/10
Typical Gnat. Anyone with any sense would have left this alone after being made a fool of but a Gnat is a Gnat right?
(Jim) 09:02
There is no mention in the COSLA document you refer to of councils being compelled to stop News Paper advertising; that was the SNP idea which was rightly voted down.
(Jim) 09:06
Very shabby.
How did Trump manage it then?
Ach come on Terry! I didn't think I'd need to put a smiley on that one...
Trump was being given the red carpet treatment by Jack McConnel long before Salmond came to power.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4862982.stm
As for the COSLA situation, what are you talking about? (a link would help) I can't find anywhere that the council's would have been compelled to only use the information portal. I can only find reference to the fact that they would no longer be compelled to use print media.
(Jim) 16:00
I feel your pain; Trump is a major humiliation for you.
Why don’t you do what I did and speak to your SNP MSP about this I spoke to a Labour one; why did the SNP drop their proposals if your version is correct?
Terry
Trump is no humiliation for me. Having the people's party cover up the facts of our civic leader's chemical dependency for electoral expediency shames us all though.
Regarding the PIN, I note a severe temperance in your rhetoric.
I assume that's because COSLA agreed the principles. Each local Authority would have been given the necessary powers to choose how best to disseminate the information
- given the choice between expensive newpaper advertising and themuch more economic information portal, I realise it would have been a no-brainer for most councils.
Such a shame that the truth doesn't quite match your sensational headlines. Tabloid tub thumping at it's best!
Ian Gray's breast beating claims that it was a humiliation for Swinney simply show that once again the Labour party don't know where they stand on anything.
Jim
Seems clear that Jim has won this argument hands-down, Terry.
If this was a defeat for anyone, it was a defeat for the Lab/Lib Dem coalition.
Swinney and the SNP were forced to withdraw their proposals; that is a defeat.
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