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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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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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At the start of the year we bring you an article by Iain Lawson. Many of you will know him. He explains who he is if the first part of the piece. I write this in the last few days of 2015 which has been a brilliant year for those of us who support Independence. We deserved it after the enormous disappointment of the referendum where despite a great campaign and the conversion of hundreds of thousands of our fellow Scots to Independence, we narrowly failed to win. Unionists I am sure hoped that was the end of it but as we all know nowRead More →

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In: Political News

The SNP is today celebrating a by-election victory in the Thorniewood ward of the North Lanarkshire Council area. In the 2012 local elections, Labour received the largest share of first preferences with 70.5% of votes, whereas in this by-election the SNP came top with 47% of the vote – a 25.3% swing. In 2012 this was the second safest Labour ward in North Lanarkshire. New SNP Councillor Steven Bonnar will join recently elected SNP MP Phil Boswell, who won the formerly safe Labour seat of Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill in May, in representing the area. Commenting, Councillor Bonnar said: “It is a privilege to beRead More →

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Introducing Scotland’s 56 newly elected Scottish National Party MPs earlier today, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “I am absolutely delighted – bursting with pride even – to introduce to you for the very first time as one assembled group the fifty six men and women elected on Thursday to make Scotland’s voice heard. “The people of Scotland have spoken and the people have placed their trust in the SNP to represent Scotland at Westminster as well as at Holyrood – and just as voters in almost every part of this nation of ours chose the SNP – our pledge is that these 56 SNP MPsRead 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 →

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PARTY WELCOMES THREE WINS ON EVE OF BIGGEST CONFERENCE EVER On the eve of the party’s biggest ever conference, the SNP is today celebrating a by-election hat trick with wins in council by-elections in Fife, the North East and West Lothian. The SNP gained Glenrothes West and Kinglassie – an area considered Labour heartland – as candidate Craig Walker won 55.3 per cent of the vote. This is a 12 per cent increase in the SNP vote since 2012 and the second by-election win in Fife this year. In January, Marie Penman was elected as councillor for the Kirkcaldy East ward with 47 per centRead More →