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In: Michael McEwan

In my last column , I spoke about the first ever SNP Conference specifically for Disabled Members at the Crowne Plaza in Glasgow was organised by some Disabled party members themselves. It was an opportunity to nurture skills and encourage debate , in the way that feels comfortable and in a space that empowers us.   The opening speech was from Equalities Officer Tasmina Ahmed – Sheikh MP , back in 2012 she joined the Advisory Board of Yes Scotland and the Cross Party campaign for Scottish Independence. In 2015 General Election she was elected to the British Parliament as SNP MP for Ochil andRead More →

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In: Guest Blogger

So at the end of last year I was looking on the web , as you do , and an event caught my attention – the SNP will host it’s first ever conference specifically for Disabled Members, so I contacted them to see if I could get involved in any way. They asked me if I would like to do a workshop and I said yes , I am co-running the workshop with my good friend Fran Macilvey, an author and public speaker from Edinburgh. Fran, like myself, was born with Cerebral Palsy and has shared her life experiences in her autobiography “Trapped- My LifeRead More →

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Saturday 28 March 2015, it’s an unremarkable date in many ways but a significant one for me. What happened, well I went to the rostrum and spoke at the SNP Conference. For those unfortunate to know me over the years that will seem completely normal, I’ve been speaking at Conference etc for many, many years. But six months earlier, on September 19 2014, I was ready and willing to up sticks, sell the house, stand down as a Councillor and move permanently to Tenerife. I had woken that morning to utter despair, we had lost, Scotland had bottled it once again, grasped defeat from theRead More →

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Due to the large numbers of delegates to campaign conference this year we were decamped to the barn that is the S.E.C.C. in Glasgow. It certainly had space for the delegates but the very big downside was the layout. The stalls were separated from the speaking hall by a curtain. The delegates in the arena complained of noise from the stall space and then they complained about not being able to speak easily in the stall space because of the noise from the arena. I know I used a lot of paracetamol. The purpose of a campaign conference is to rally the troops and sendRead More →