East end hopefuls set scene for close run race

Tag : butcher paper

On the campaign trail yesterday, Labour and the SNP clashed on lawand order.
The Nationalists said crime had fallen by up to 24% in theconstituency and called for Labour to back action to tackle theproblem of airguns and reduce access to cheap drink.
They also highlighted plans for recruiting an extra 1000 police inScotland.
Margaret Curran, the MSP and newly selected party candidate for theseat, said, however, that much of any improvement was attributableto past efforts by previous administrations, in areas such asantisocial behaviour, and she unveiled her own five-point plan totackle crime.
One element of this plan was doubling the number of extra police onthe streets in the city's east end, she said.
"The council has paid for 20 extra police because the SNP broketheir promise on recruiting extra officers," she said.
"I want the council to double this figure in two years and willfight until they do."
Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, who was in Glasgow,called on Tory leader David Cameron to apologise for a speech inwhich Mr Cameron appealed for a greater sense of public morality.
Appearing with candidate Ian Robertson, Mr Clegg said Mr Cameronhad effectively claimed that if people were out of a job orstruggling to make ends meet it was their own fault.
"If David Cameron has any decency he would apologise to the peopleof Glasgow East for the arrogance of his comments," he said.
Mr Clegg, who began his campaign visit with a tour of a ScottishGas training facility in the constituency, said the area had beenneglected for "generations" by Labour, while the SNP wanted totreat voters as "pawns" in a political game at Holyrood andWestminster.
Mr Clegg went on: "I think there is no excuse in politics for thelucky and the privileged to show such contempt for the poor and theforgotten." He also attacked Labour, saying the constituency hadbeen neglected by a government that was "increasingly pointless",led by a Prime Minister who was also increasingly pointless.
"I think Gordon Brown's political credibility is almost entirelyevaporated already," said Mr Clegg.
"If he cannot hold on to a seat which for generations has beensynonymous with the Labour Party I think he will pretty well haveforfeited any remaining credibility he has with the people ofGlasgow, Scotland, and Britain."or the Tories, Annabel Goldie washappy to spend her cash in Chapman's family butcher on BailliestonMain Street.
If her party fails to better the fourth place showing it achievedin the 2005 election, the Scottish Conservative leader can at leastconsole herself with the potted haugh she picked up while in townyesterday to support Davena Rankin, the Tories' candidate forGlasgow East.
As the Conservatives push their agenda of tougher action on crimeand strong ties within the United Kingdom, Mrs Goldie assuredvoters that her party represented the only "safe choice" in thismonth's by-election.
"Only the Conservatives will guarantee good policies for the peoplein this area, guarantee a good MP in Davena Rankin, and guarantee apositive commitment to keeping Scotland in the United Kingdom," shesaid.
"Labour have failed - they are associated with failure, and the SNPare associated with risk, while the Conservatives are associatedwith certainty, safety, and a positive future."
But the Tories faced fresh criticism over comments made by UK partyleader David Cameron and a call by Nick Clegg, his LibDemcounterpart at Westminster, for him to apologise to the voters ofGlasgow East.
The by-election campaign spilled over into Prime Minister'sQuestions where Harriet Harman, standing in for Gordon Brown,criticised Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond.
The SNP candidate in Glasgow East, John Mason, has accused Labourof fielding a "part-timer" in the campaign - Ms Curran is already aHolyrood MSP.
Ms Harman told MPs: "The leader of the Scots Nats in Holyrooddoesn't turn up much in this House, although he continues to be amember and draw his salary." SCOTTISH LABOUR PARTY Margaret Curran, 49, is the MSP for Glasgow Baillieston - a seatshe held last year with a majority of nearly 4000. Ms Curran haspreviously served as Social Justice Minister, a post later renamedCommunities, and following the resignation of Wendy Alexander asScottish party leader, said she was actively considering whether ornot to stand. She has stated that, if she won the seat, she wouldserve as an MP and MSP but that this would be resolved in the longterm. Originally from the east end of Glasgow, she moved to thesouth side around two decades ago and now stays in Newlands. SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY John Mason, 51, is originally from Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire,and has lived in Glasgow's east end for 18 years. He was elected asa Glasgow City councillor for the Garrowhill ward in 1998 at aby-election and held the seat in 1999 and 2003. He has led the SNPgroup on the council since 1999 and was elected in 2007 ascouncillor for the new ward of Baillieston. Mr Mason is the SNP'slongest-serving Glasgow councillor. He lives in a tenement flat inBarlanark. SCOTTISH CONSERVATIVES Davena Rankin, 35, has worked for Marie Curie Cancer Care, the TSBbank, Glasgow University, Glasgow Caledonian University and carriedout basic training as a Royal Naval officer. She is an activemember of the union Unison and is branch secretary of the GlasgowCaledonian University branch. Her recent electoral experienceincludes fighting the Glasgow Kelvin seat during the 2001 GeneralElection and the Glasgow Kings Park ward in the 2003 councilelection. She was educated at Knightswood Secondary School in thewest of Glasgow, and now lives in nearby Anniesland. SCOTTISH LIBERAL DEMOCRATS Ian Robertson, 30, is a mathematics teacher at BellahoustonAcademy in Glasgow. He was a candidate for the Scottish LiberalDemocrats in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency in the2005 General Election and served as president of StrathclydeUniversity Student Association between 2003 and 2004. SCOTTISH GREEN PARTY Dr Eileen Duke, 60, is the Scottish Green Party's co- convenor forGlasgow and the West of Scotland. From Dundee, she has lived inGlasgow since 1979, where she worked as a doctor for 23 yearsbefore retiring. Dr Duke was a Liberal Democrat activist for manyyears but left the party over her concerns about the environment.She joined the Greens in 2005 and was on the party's regional listfor Glasgow in the 2007 Holyrood election. She lives in Scotstoun. SCOTTISH SOCIALIST PARTY Frances Curran, 47, is one of the founding members of the SSP andjoint national spokesperson with Colin Fox. She was one of sixsocialist MSPs elected for the West of Scotland at the 2003Holyrood election. However, the party's representation was wipedout in the 2007 vote following its acrimonious split with formerconvener, Tommy Sheridan, who went on to form Solidarity. She wasborn in the east end but has not lived there for the past nineyears. She said she was forced to move to Possil, where she stayedfor seven years, because she was unable to carry on a tenancy afterher mother died, and has lived in a housing association flat inPartick for the last two years. SOLIDARITY Tricia McLeish, 44, has been an active socialist for more than 20years. She was born and lives in Shettleston. Ms McLeish works as atechnical officer for Glasgow City Council's land and environmentalservices and was a Unison (and previously Nalgo) shop steward inthe council's housing department for 15 years. After beingsuspended from the Labour Party for her involvement in theAnti-Poll Tax Federation, she became a founder member of theScottish Socialist Alliance, the Scottish Socialist Party and thenSolidarity. INDEPENDENT Chris Creighton, an independent candidate, stays in Newlands, onthe south side of Glasgow. FREEDOM 4 CHOICE Hamish Howitt, Freedom 4 Choice candidate, lives in Blackpool.