Local MSP Signs Book of Commitment on Holocaust Memorial Day
Dave Thompson, SNP MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch recently (27/01/15) signed the Book of Commitment in the Scottish Parliament on Holocaust Memorial day.
The Holocaust Educational Trust who was sponsoring the event was established in 1988. Their aim is to educate young people from every background about the Holocaust and the important lessons to be learned for today and is bringing together testimony from people who sought sanctuary in Scotland to escape the racism of Nazi-dominated Europe.
Mr Thompson said,
“The 27th of January was the day for everyone to remember the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust and marks the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp.
“Therefore, I was glad to sign the Book of Commitment in the Scottish Parliament to raise awareness of this and hopefully help enable a future where this sort of suffering never occurs again”.
Friday 29th January 2016
DUGDALE MUST URGENTLY CLARIFY FISCAL FRAMEWORK POSITION
LABOUR MSP REFUSES TO BACK “BEST” OPTION FOR SCOTTISH BUDGET
The SNP has today called on Kezia Dugdale to urgently clarify her party’s position on the Fiscal Framework as her MSPs on the Finance Committee refused to back a method of calculating the Scottish block grant that would protect Scotland’s budget.
In the Finance Committee’s report on the Fiscal Framework, published today, Labour MSP Lesley Brennan refused to back a conclusion calling for the Scottish block grant to be adjusted by the ‘per capita indexation’ method. Independent experts say this method would ensure Scotland’s budget is not cut disproportionately as a result of the Scottish population growing at a lower rate than the UK population.
Commenting, SNP MSP Mark McDonald said:
“It is astonishing that given the choice Labour MSPs preferred to join the Tories in voting against protecting Scotland’s budget.
“In voting against the per-capita indexation method for calculating the block grant, Labour’s member on the Finance Committee has put herself at odds with her colleagues on the Devolution Committee who concede that this is the ‘best’ option for Scotland.
“Kezia Dugdale must urgently clarify her position on the Fiscal Framework – will she back the best deal for Scotland or will she back the Tory Treasury?”
January 29 2016
FRESH BLOW TO CAMERON OVER CCS SCRAPPAGE COSTS
BILL DOUBLES ON UK CLIMATE TARGETS AFTER TORY ENERGY BETRAYAL
The UK government’s mismanagement of the Scottish and UK-wide energy sector has been exposed this week in a letter to Tory energy secretary Amber Rudd from the independent Committee on Climate Change (CCC), the statutory body providing evidence-based advice to government.
In their damning letter, the CCC has issued a stern warning to the UK government that the cost of meeting their global obligations on carbon reduction – as agreed in Paris in December 2015 – will double without carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology.
The Tory government betrayed a manifesto pledge in November last year in pulling the plug on £1 billion of funding for a pioneering CCS scheme at Peterhead, which would have created 600 jobs in the local economy and helped Scotland become a global leader in clean energy technology.
David Cameron faces fresh criticism for his role in swindling the economy of the North East of Scotland out of vital investment in clean energy. Barely two months after his Tory government scrapped the £1 billion CCS project for Peterhead he arrived in Aberdeen yesterday to announce a meagre £20 million support for the energy industry – including a paltry £1.5 million “Energy Game Changer” fund.
Commenting, Banffshire and Buchan Coast MSP Stewart Stevenson said:
“The Committee on Climate Change is the latest in a series of industry experts and business leaders to condemn the decision of the Tory government to scrap the £1 billion CCS investment in Peterhead.
“Not only is it a total betrayal of the North East of Scotland, at the cost of 600 jobs for the local community, but it’s going to prove a costly move by David Cameron and his cronies – doubling the price tag of meeting our global obligations on carbon reduction.
“This week, the Prime Minister had the audacity to show up in Aberdeen to announce £1.5 million for what he calls an ‘energy game changer’ fund just two months after his government pulled the plug on a bonus billion for the energy sector in the North East.
“The Committee is right to call for a ‘rapid’ rethink on CCS – the decision to scrap the promised investment in Peterhead has been exposed as rash and reckless accounting from the Tory government, which will cost all of us.”