MP Praises Michelin for Protecting Jobs
Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie today [12th May] praised Michelin managment for taking steps to protect jobs at the Dundee plant by announcing a three-week production shutdown.
The MP had received a briefing in advance on the move which he described as “the right thing to do in a downturn”.
The production break had been agreed in consultation with the unions and was widely regarded as protecting the future for the 860 staff at the Dundee plant which includes 140 new employees.
Stewart Hosie said: “Michelin have recognised the downturn in Europe and they are doing what they do very well, managng down production without threatening production or jobs.
“That’s the right thing to do in a downturn, managing stock levels while maintaining jobs and investment at the site.
“The actions they are taking are protecting the long-term presence of Michelin in Dundee.”
MP Hails Chancellor’s Tax Breaks for Computer Games Development
Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie believes that tax breaks for computer games development will have wider benefits for the rest of Scotland.
The Dundee MP has hailed the Chancellor’s decision to grant tax relief to software companies as boost to the economy.
Stewart Hosie said: My colleagues and I have been pressing for years, along with games body TIGA, for tax relief for games developers and we are certain that this new measure will help to create jobs and promote investment.
“TIGA has played a vital role in making the case over the ast four years.
“The quality of TIGA’s research and its tenacious campaigning have enabled MPs including myself to make the case for a tax relief for the video games industry in Parliament.
“I now hope this new measure will help to create jobs and promote investment in the high-technology Scottish Games Industry.
“TIGA claims that the industry supports in the region of 2000 jobs with around 700 of these in games development and Scotland-wide generates around £30 million in tax revenue. Dundee is a key location for the industry with dozens of companies and we hope this new measure will cobntribute to further success for the sector.”
SNP Call For Action on Fair Fuel
Dundee City Council Leader Ken Guild and many SNP Councillors and Candidates for the Council Elections were joined by MP Stewart Hosie and MSP Joe FitzPatrick yesterday [Saturday 7th April] in the city centre collecting signatures from the public supporting action on ‘fair fuel’.
Dundee City West MSP Joe FitzPatrick said: “This is a key issue for the SNP and clearly we have the support of the public. Today we collected hundreds of signatures and were overwhelmed with the public response. Rising fuel prices affects everyone and puts up the cost of living across society.
“The public is crying out for action and the Treasury must listen. There is no excuse for raking in this vast amount of additional duty without making any attempt to introduce a fairer and more stable system of duty regulation to prevent price spikes at the pumps for the motorist, the haulage industry and households. ”
Dundee East and SNP Treasury spokesman Stewart Hosie said: “We have been calling for a fuel duty regulator for years so that we can stabilise the prices at the pumps and regulate the amount of tax which the Treasury rakes in.
“Petrol prices at the pumps are now over 140p per litre with diesel over 146p. It is a scandal that in oil-rich Scotland we are paying some of the highest fuel prices in Europe and most of the price is comprised of duty paid to the UK Treasury.
“It is nothing short of highway robbery. Both the Tories and Lib Dems promised action before the election and have failed to deliver.
“If Westminster will not act, the powers must be transferred to Scotland so that we can take action. In the meantime we will introduce an Amendment to the UK Budget Bill calling for the Chancellor to make good his promises and bring in a fuel duty regulator.”
MP Hands in Forthill Phone Mast Petition
Stewart Hosie with Lynn Sale and the petition
A petition circulated by local residents in the Forthill / Balgillo area opposing the siting of a 15m mobile phone mast at the corner of Forthill Road and Balgillo Road was today handed in to Dundee City Council by Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie.
More than 300 local residents have already signed the petition and local residents Kevin Cordell, Lynn Sale and other petition campaigners opposed to the application gave the petition to the MP to hand-over to the Council Planning Department.
Mobile Phone operators Telefonica and Vodaphone have applied for permission to use a pavement site on the busy Forthill Road / Balgillo Road junction directly adjacent to the gable end of a private residence. The corner is very busy and has a school crossing patrol during school hours.
Protestors feel that the siting of the mast is inappropriate and that it will be a significant visual intrusion.
Commenting, Stewart Hosie said: “I support the residents on this issue. I think it is absolutely ludicrous to have a tall phone mast on an already busy road and at the end of a 200-year-old cottage, especially when there is an industrial estate just a few hundred yards away that would be a far more appropriate site.”
UK Budget fails on fairness and growth
Responding to the Budget, SNP Westminster Treasury spokesperson Stewart Hosie MP said the Chancellor had failed to deliver for Scotland on the key measures needed to support the Scottish economy.
Mr Hosie said:
“The Chancellor has ignored the needs of Scotland in a Budget which shows the UK government has its priorities all wrong, and that Scotland now urgently needs the real economic powers of independence.
“George Osborne has prioritised a tax cut for the wealthiest, while penalising public sector workers with a regional pay plan and adding to the burden faced by Scottish households and businesses through soaring fuel prices.
“As well as failing the fairness test, the Chancellor has also failed on growth by snubbing Scottish Government demands to support vital shovel ready projects – we urgently need that capital investment to support employment, help small business and promote economic security.
“While the Scottish Government is doing everything that it can to protect household budgets with the economic levers that it has – such as freezing the council tax and protecting free prescriptions – even the positive measures announced by the Chancellor, like the increase in personal tax allowances, will be swallowed up by higher fuel prices and VAT.
“The devil is always in the detail with the Treasury and we need to look very closely at the announcements made by the Chancellor on support for small businesses. While the announcement on the National Loan Guarantee Scheme is welcome, we must have assurances that more small businesses in Scotland will be able to access affordable finance given the issues with Project Merlin where only 4.8% of gross lending went to SMEs in Scotland.
“It is a tribute to the sector and to the Scottish Government that the Treasury have announced plans for Enhanced Capital Allowances to apply at Nigg, Irvine and Dundee, which means that new, low carbon technologies and industries will now bring investment into these areas. And, as a Dundee MP, I am particularly pleased that the Chancellor has listened to our long-standing calls for the introduction of video games tax relief.
“After the uncertainty created by the UK Government’s damaging tax raid on our offshore sector last years, I do welcome the commitment to support oil and gas decommissioning and new field allowances west of Shetland. However, the UK Government should go further to restore the sector’s confidence and introduce a statutory consultation period for future tax reforms
“It is clear that Scotland needs the same financial and economic powers as other nations have, so that we can grow our economy and revenues as the only alternative to a decade or more of Westminster-dictated cuts. We have used the powers we have wisely – we now need the same powers as other countries have in order to sort this mess out.”
Politicians’ Hopes for National Convention on Youth Unemployment
All three Dundee SNP parliamentarians will be attending the National Summit on Youth Unemployment today [Thursday 15 March] at Dundee College, Gardyne Road.
Joe FitzPatrick, Dundee City West MSP, said: “We will be attending this meeting as it is a key issue confronting both the Scottish and UK governments.
“Youth unemployment is too high and it is right that we adopt a collaborative cross-governmental approach.
“The Scottish Government has prioritised the issue by appointing the only dedicated Minister for youth employment in the UK.
“The real challenge is to increase capital spending to create real jobs for young people and I hope the national convention will be able to move forward on that.”
Dundee City East MSP Shona Robison said: “There is a lot of work being done already to tackle the high level of youth unemployment and our provision of 25,000 apprenticeship places and the „Opportunities for All‟ programme which guarantees a training or learning place for all 16-19 year-olds is helping.
“More young people could find employment in the Computer Games and Digital Media which are employment sectors that have a youthful workforce but we must ensure that these remain competitive. One way to ensure that would be to provide carefully targeted games tax relief to games developers.
“There are many other examples of ways in which key sectors that could provide more employment for young people could be stimulated to allow job-creation and growth and I hope that some of these will be seriously considered at the summit.
“I also welcome the First Minister’s recent announcement that there will be a youth employment legacy delivered by the commonwealth games with a new investment of £5m to create training and employment opportunities
Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie said: “Young people have the dynamism we need to get our economy moving. Scotland needs to get all of its young people into high-quality employment, training schemes and apprenticeships or a place in further or higher education.
“The Scottish Government has made significant moves towards that aim but does not have all the tools required to tackle youth unemployment on its own, so both parliaments need to work together and I hope that this summit will see several new initiatives being forward.”
Spring Party Political Broadcast
Dundee Politicians Express Concern Over Remploy Closures While Welcoming Assurance Over Dundee Factory
Dundee SNP politicians today [Wed 7 March] welcomed the news that the Dundee factory Remploy is not one of the 36 factories in the Remploy network across the UK to be earmarked for closure, while expressing regret at the plight of those scheduled for closure, which includes three in Scotland.
Joe FitzPatrick MSP, in whose Dundee City West constituency the factory is sited, said: “I am relieved that the Dundee factory is not one of those earmarked for closure by the UK Minister for Disabled People, Maria Miller, and believe that this underlines the viability of Remploy Dundee within the network.
“However, we regret the plight of those factories now scheduled for closure, 36 our of 54,which includes Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Motherwell.
“We oppose the closures of these factories as all means of boosting employment should be supported by the UK and Scottish Governments during the present financial downturn.”
Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie said: “The public consultation on Remploy and the Sayce Report on supported employment ended on 17 October but staff and employees at the Dundee factory have been very concerned for their future and they will be re-assured today.
“Over the last few months we had put pressure on the Scottish Secretary to consult with the DWP and put pressure on his colleagues the Home Secretary and the Defence Secretary, whose departments are Remploy’s main customers, to confirm the first-class quality of the chemical and biological equipment produced at Remploy in Dundee.
“I visited the Dundee factory as have my colleagues Pete Wishart MP and both Dundee’s constituency MSPs Shona Robison and Joe FitzPatrick and took up a number of issues with the Department of Work and Pensions, with Liz Sayce who was conducting the Report and with the Minister for the Disabled and perhaps the joint campaign by all those lobbying for the Dundee factory, has been successful – as reflected in today’s announcement.”
Mainland Scotland is ‘Not Remote’ Says MP
Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie took up the complaints of constituents who have had a problem in late delivery of flowers ordered through Debenham’s website.
The constituents ordered flowers to be sent to an elderly relative in Aberdeen for a significant anniversary and were annoyed when these were delivered a day late. The company sent them a letter which claimed that for the purpose of deliveries they considered ‘all parts of Scotland to be remote and cannot guarantee delivery dates there.’
This was apparently the case even if the order is booked well in advance through the site.
Stewart Hosie said: “I wrote to the flower delivery company concerned, Prestige Flowers and asked if they were aware how condescending and even insulting such a statement could be considered by customers in Scotland.
“On their website they describe ‘remote areas’ as the Channel islands, The Isle of Man, Jersey, Shetland Islands, the further reaches of Scotland & Wales, the Isle of Skye and other islands around the UK, however, in their letter it was ‘Aberdeen and most of Scotland as remote areas.’
“I suggested that they clarify on their website a more-accurate description of the delivery service they offer in Scotland in order to avoid disappointing more customers like my constituents.
“It might be that my constituents would be well-advised next time to order delivery of flowers through local florists who do not consider addresses in mainland Scotland to be remote and who can guarantee next day delivery.”
MOD Statement Promised on Royal Marine Reserve Dundee Base
Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie was today promised a statement by the Secretary of State for Defence on the future of the Royal Marine Reserve base in Dundee after he raised the question of confusion arising from comment by the Prime Minister on the issue .
Raising the issue today with Leader of the House Sir George Young at Ministerial Questions, the SNP MP referred to the Prime Minister’s response to his Labour colleague in Dundee West yesterday when Mr Cameron said there was ‘no intention to cut the numbers of the Royal Marine Reserve in Scotland and indeed he wanted more people to join the reserve.’
Stewart Hosie said: “The facts seem to indicate a different story.
“The Greenock and Inverness detachments have already been closed and there is an intention to cull the number of regulars who service the Royal Marine and Royal Naval Reserves.
“There seems to be some confusion on this issue and I am aware of concerns over the position of the Dundee base at Strathmore Avenue.
“I would ask for a statement from the Secretary of State for Defence to clear up the confusion and outline the future of the Royal Marine and Royal Naval Reserve.”
Responding for the UK Government, the Leader of the House promised to refer the matter to the Secretary of State for Defence to make a statement.
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