LATEST NEWS FROM SCOTTISH LABOUR

Scottish Labour today said that new statistics revealed by the Times Educational Supplement Scotland showed that older teachers are not delaying their retirement, putting paid to the argument that they are partially responsible for the desperate job prospects facing new teachers. The most common retirement age of teachers has actually fallen over the past three years - from 62 years in 2007-08 to 60 years in 2009-10 - according to the Scottish Public Pensions Agency. Its figures revealed that the average retirement age was 61.86 in 2007-08; 60.98 in 2008-09; and 60.16 in 2009-10. The Educational Institute of Scotland has...

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Labour MP Russell Brown said today he is “furious” at news that the Tory Lib Dem Government is to withdraw UK Border Agency funding for three ports police officers at Stranraer - where large numbers of immigration offences are detected. The news comes on the back of predictions by Dumfries and Galloway police force that they will need to cut almost 200 police officers and staff over the next few years as a result of cuts being made by the SNP government. The ports of Stranraer and Cairnryan are an anomaly in the UK as they are entry points to...

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Scottish Labour’s Bill Butler has welcomed the Scottish Government’s announcement that £800,000 will be invested in swimming lessons for primary pupils, but called on the SNP to deliver on its pledge to provide children with free access to council pools. Labour’s Shadow Sport Minister Bill Butler said: "Before they came to power, the SNP promised to increase children's participation in sport through free access to swimming and two hours of PE a week at school provided by PE specialists, but they have yet to deliver on these pledges. "We are only four years away from hosting the 2014 Commonwealth Games....

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Scottish Labour’s Jackie Baillie has condemned the SNP for announcing a minimum price of 45p per unit, which would put over £140 million in the pockets of the big supermarkets without creating a single extra penny for more police or the NHS. Shadow Health Secretary Jackie Baillie said: “The SNP have got this one badly wrong. A minimum price of 45p per unit will make no difference to the cost of problem drinks, like Buckfast, but it will punish pensioners and people on low incomes. “According to the Scottish Government’s own study, a minimum price of 45p per unit will...

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In an address to the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce’s Annual General Meeting this morning, Labour's leader in the Scottish Parliament, Iain Gray said the capital had suffered triple-whammy with an SNP government at Holyrood, an SNP Lib Dem council running the city as well as the Tory/LibDem coalition at Westminster. Iain Gray said: “We currently face the threat of UK government cuts in the public sector which threaten economic recovery. What George Osborne proposes is too soon and too savage. “But in Scotland we are more vulnerable as we are already suffering under the Salmond Slump in the good times....

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Scottish Labour has welcomed news that after a relentless campaign from Labour the Scottish Government has at long agreed to take action on so-called ‘party flats’. Scottish Labour's Sarah Boyack MSP has pursued this issue for the past three years following concerns about antisocial behaviour (ASB) experienced by her constituents due to irresponsible short term letting. Following Ms Boyack's campaign for action on this issue, the Minister for Housing and Communities, Alex Neil MSP has finally agreed to amend Part 7 of the Antisocial Behaviour (Scotland) Act 2004 to make...

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The SNP government has been criticised today for pulling out of a free fruit scheme for school children. Dr Richard Simpson, Scottish Labour’s Public Health spokesman, said: “The SNP have treated the free fruit scheme as nothing more than a gimmick. “At the end of the day it is our school children who'll miss out on the health benefits of this scheme which helps youngsters get their 'five a day'. “Ministers applied for the EU funding but have failed to come up with their side of the bargain and now they've pulled...

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Labour's leader in the Scottish Parliament, Iain Gray called on the Scottish government to publish its draft budget after a report today said the current uncertainty is undermining confidence in the Scottish economy Iain Gray, MSP, said: “The SNP delay is damaging confidence and undermining prospects of recovery. Scotland is already suffering under the Salmond Slump which has cost us 30,000 jobs in the construction industry and has seen us fall behind the rest of the UK with lower growth, fewer business start-ups and higher unemployment. “His Finance Minister John Swinney knows how much money is...

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Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray has said that Alex Salmond’s promise to make independence a bigger priority than people’s jobs shows he is out of touch with ordinary Scots. Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray said: “Alex Salmond’s comments show that he is out of touch with ordinary Scots. He has stopped speaking to the country and is now only concerned with placating his own activists. “There is no other explanation for his pledge to make the constitution a bigger priority than people’s jobs in next year’s election campaign. It shows that Alex Salmond and...

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Statement from Jack McConnell: "I have tonight told the members of Motherwell and Wishaw CLP that I will not be putting myself forward for election at the May 2011 Scottish Parliament elections. My successor in the Constituency, and the Scottish Labour Party campaign, will have my full support in those elections. I will be forever grateful to the many people locally and nationally who have helped me in the causes I have promoted, and the decisions I have made. Together we have made Scotland, and the constituency, better than they were on my election in 1999. I have been an...

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