More inheritance tax?

There is nothing that our tired and divided Labour government will not tax to fund their crazy "spend spend spend" mentality.

Their latest idea is a ‘Pay As You Die’ scheme that will force the elderly to sign away their homes to pay their soaring council tax bills.

The Government quietly enacted a measure in November 2009 to permit pensioners to ‘defer’ their council tax bills, and instead pay – with interest – when their property is sold or on death of the surviving resident spouse.

The Liberal Democrats, as ever support the Labour Government and their policy paper, ‘Fairer, Simpler, Greener‘ advocates “There could be an arrangement to allow pensioners to postpone payment of the property tax, with the unpaid tax becoming a charge upon the owner-occupiers estate. They could be recouped by the Revenue when the house was sold.”

The simple message from this is that a vote for the Liberals will result in an extra inheritance tax levied by the local council and a higher council tax .

More school issues

Just recently the LibDems voted to close Drumbrae school despite massive opposition. Now we read that the LibDems have saved schools. Yet Drumbrae school is still closing.

It was the classic case of the "one size fits all and we know best" mentality that has plagued our education sector for so many years. The crazy thing is that the plans to close these schools won't actually save much money because Edinburgh council are not reducing the number of people employed in the Education department. It also makes a mockery of the SNP plans to reduce class sizes- after all they are the LibDems partners on the council.

Just to add insult to injury, their PPC is now calling for "new investment to give schools the flexibility to reduce class sizes or develop one-to-one tuition and improve discipline." It seems that, as ever they are facing both ways and hoping that the public wont notice. Well we have, and with only 80 odd days till the election, memories will last.

Compare this to the plans that the Conservatives have to allow parents and others to set up and run new schools free of council interference.

Very soon we will have the choice of supporting a failed Labour Government who are backed by the LibDems and a new Conservative Government who believe in setting people free to get on with life wthout government interference.

So, if you want change, Vote conservative. A vote for anyone else will change nothing.

Cleaning the beach at Cramond

I posted recently on the efforts of the Marine Conservation Society to maintain a clean beach at Cramond. This recent event was one of a regular series of events. The trust gather four times a year to record the litter and clean the beach.

If you want to know more of the work of the Marine Conservation Society, contact them direct at

3 Coates Place, Edinburgh, EH3 7AA

Tel / Fax: 0131 226 2391

Mobile: 07894 566624

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) is the UK charity dedicated to protecting our seas, shores anrd wildlife.

Join us - visit our new website www.mcsuk.org

Liberal Hypocrisy on Schools

Just recently the LibDems voted to close Drumbrae school despite massive opposition. Now we read that the LibDems have saved schools. Yet Drumbrae school is still closing.

Just to add insult to injury, their PPC is now calling for "new investment to give schools the flexibility to reduce class sizes or develop one-to-one tuition and improve discipline." It seems that, as ever they are facing both ways and hoping that the public wont notice. Well we have, and with only 80 odd days till the election, memories will last.

Cleaning at Cramond

Last weekend I joined the Marine Conservation Trust and a large group of people at Cramond Beach to help with a beach clean and survey. This is something that the Trust has been doing for a number of years and represents people power in action. Every piece of litter over a 100 meter stretch of beach was gathered and catalogued. It is a sobering and saddening thing to see the number of pieces of sanitary ware and cotton buds that have been flushed down toilets and washed up on a public beach. This is a message that really needs to be publicised. Carelessness and selfish behaviour affects others. I for one commend the work of the Marine Conservation Trust as they seek to raise awareness and in a practical way help the people to help themselves in making our lives better.


From my point of view as a politician, seeing what we picked up on the beach makes me ask questions as to the materials used in these products. For example, should we be using plastic for cotton buds? Can we highlight what happens when we put things down the toilet? How can we change attitudes to reduce the amount of waste?

I do not claim to have the answers, but knowing some of the questions helps me to look for solutions. If the people of Edinburgh West choose me as their next MP, this kind of issue can be given prominence and we can work for a better, cleaner future for us all.

Vote for change, vote Conservative

A vote for anyone else changes nothing

Its time for change

We now have less than 90 days until the most likely date for the general election of 6th May. The media is full of reports and comments about politics and I'm sure that you will soon get heartily sick of it all.

Ultimately we will get our chance to have our say. It comes down to a simple choice. Do we want another 5 years of a Labour government who have brought the country to bankruptcy, increased inequality while reducing social mobility along the way? or do we want a change?

Do we want a new government that will reduce the debt and rebuild a broken society?

If the answer to the latter is yes, then only a vote for the Scottish Conservatives will make that difference.

At the European Elections, we were within 2% of overtaking the Liberals. Since then, the Liberal MP has announced his retirement and our private polling shows that even more people are supporting our call for change.

We have an excellent chance to contribute to change in Edinburgh West, tell your friends.

"Vote Conservative for change, a vote for anyone else changes nothing"