Wednesday

Vote Labour on May 6th


This will be my last chance to update the blog before polling day. It's been a hectic but enjoyable campaign, and I've took great pleasure in speaking to voters from all over Aberdeenshire and Kincardine. When you cast your vote, please consider:

Labour are the party of public services - the 'state' we've built up in the last 13 years are the doctors, nurses, teachers and policemen we all cherish. The 'big society' is just a deception for running them down.

Labour are the party of the economy - we took decisive action to save the banks, protecting peoples savings, and to minimise unemployment. Now is not the time for amateurs.

Labour are the party of progress - only Labour can win the election and deliver a referendum on electoral reform.

Labour are the party of the family - only we will protect the child trust fund and working families tax credit, whilst extending the responsibilities of parents with respect to their children's behaviour.

Finally, for all the talk of tactical voting in this seat, I think recent Scottish polls have shown that you can afford a vote for Labour here and not let the Tories in. If you like what I have to say, and want to see more people like me with fresh ideas in British politics, the only way that will happen is by voting for us on May 6th!

Campaign update


Well it's only a few days left until polling day and people across Aberdeenshire are making their minds up. As the Lib Dems come under more scrutiny in the newspapers, people are finally finding out what they stand for. Certainly not working families - they plan to cut both the child trust fund and working families tax credit. Clegg also made it clear today that he would not work with Gordon Brown in the event of a hung parliament. Voting Lib Dem in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine will help bring the Tories to power. Only Labour can stop them!

My pledges have always been the focus of my campaign and in Portlethen on the weekend with Anne Begg I was emphasising my number one priority - bringing more green jobs in renewables to the North East. I work in the oil industry, and am thankful of all the jobs and prosperity it's brought to the region. However we need to act now to secure the jobs of the future. Only Labour are committing to providing direct, targeted government support to help more renewables companies set up in Scotland, and I would fight for more of that money as your MP. You can read more about our environmental commitments in our Green Manifesto.

Video blog - Lib Dems are not Rage Against the Machine

Campaign update

This weekend our campaign focused on Westhill, holding a stall outside the local supermarket. I managed to speak to a lot of voters and the response was promising!

The leaders debate has brought some much needed scrutiny of opposition party policies from the press. The Lib Dems received a spot on critique from the Daily Telegraph (can't believe I just said that!). However, the Telegraph didn't go far enough to expose the absurd and, ironically, utterly illiberal idea that people coming in to the UK will be restricted to particular geographic areas. Do they want to create ghettos or something? How on earth would that work whilst they pledge to deconstruct the security measures the Labour government have put in place?

On a local level, I think Cameron's idea of having 'little platoons of civic society' running our public services was exposed in the locally renowned Deeside Piper. It turns out we can't even get councillors to represent Deeside - Dinnet, Glen Tannar, Kincardine O'Neil and Aboyne. Who's going to his country when no one even wants to be a councillor?

End of the city square project?

I didn't manage to get my views on today's announcement across effectively in Twitter's 140 characters, so allow me to try again!

The majority of Aberdonians who responded to the consultation, 55%, opposed Sir Ian Wood's plan. Whilst this is a majority, 44% of people who responded clearly want a new civic centre, and the Peacock visual arts centre is not enough for them.

So the real question to me is where do we go from here? The main flaw in the ACSEF consultation is that it presented people with Ian Wood's choice alone. We need a broader, more inclusive debate about what sort of civic centre Aberdeen needs and where it is going to go. But we're not going to get this before the city council decide whether to proceed with the city square project on the 19th of May.

19th of May is after the General Election, so if the Lib Dem and SNP council disregard the will of the public and push ahead with Ian Wood's plans, you won't be able express your discontent by giving their Westminster candidates a hiding. As far as I know, only Anne Begg had made her views clear in the Aberdeen South constituency, calling for interested groups to support the Peacock plan. Where do the other candidates stand?

One week in - a future fair for all but my feet


One week in to the election campaign and I've already ruined my feet running around Portlethen meeting voters. You might have read about 'blitzing' on the BBC website, but the more people you have knocking on doors the faster the candidate has to move between them. And I did not wear the right shoes for the number of friends who came out to knock doors with me! I hope to upload some video of the session soon.

I've also held a street stall in Stonehaven (photo right) where it was great to meet quite a few Labour voters. It seems that people across Aberdeenshire are recognising this election is a choice between a Labour and Conservative government, and they know that the Liberal Democrats can't stop the Tories getting back in. Only Labour are committing to investing in the industries of the future whilst protecting public services and crucial family benefits like the child trust fund. Over 20,000 families across Aberdeenshire benefited from tax credits and if elected as your Labour MP I will continue to support them.

So, it begins

Gordon is set to go to the palace and the election will be truly underway.

I think the main battleground will be on the economy, and I've already set out some of my personal ideas below. However I would sum it up thus: Who do you really trust to build the economy of the future?

Labour believes in state intervention. The intervention that saved Scottish banks and kept people in jobs. An intervention that now means building a broader, greener manufacturing base.

Conservatives stood back as families suffered from the recession. They now are treating the electorate as ignorant, kidding you that they can cut taxes, cut the deficit and protect spending all at the same time.

Liberal Democrats have spelt out their cuts - cuts in defence; in trident, in aircraft carriers. In Scottish Jobs. And now they want to stop all road building - a policy that would threaten the Western Peripheral Route.

Finally, the SNP have shown their economic incompetence with a Scottish Futures Trust that hasn't delivered one new school since they've been in power, and a narrow minded lust to join bankrupt countries like Ireland and Iceland in an arc of depression.

So, who can you trust? If you want a stable, growing economy you must vote Labour in this election. I look forward to meeting you on the campaign trail.

Conference; Chancellor's debate


Just a quick update - thought the Chancellor's debate was excellent, and sets a good precedent for the Prime Ministerial debates to come. There was respect from all parties, balanced approaches and even, dare I say, a consensus on a couple of issues. A world removed from the punch and judy of PMQs, which was very refreshing.

Am personally not feeling so refreshed after a hectic weekend at the Scottish Labour conference on Saturday and on Mearns FM on Sunday morning before out campaigning. I was hoping to post some video from conference but the quality was even lower than my usual video blogs! I did, however, get to speak and here is the slightly grainy photo evidence. I managed to talk about my concerns on the local economy in Aberdeenshire and the need to diversify now into renewables before the chance passes us by.

Who's really focusing on keeping Scottish jobs?


You'd think by Alex Salmond's latest headline grabbing that he was personally responsible for the apprenticeships that are keeping Scotland working during the recession. He seems to have conveniently forgotten that Labour forced him to increase the number of apprenticeships funded in the last Scottish budget! He runs a slick PR machine, that's for sure, but I know thousands of Scots have seen right through him, and are just waiting to kick the SNP into touch in this General Election.

And what about support in Westminster for Scottish jobs? Well, the Tories are threatening to scrap our Future Jobs Fund, which has delivered 14,900 jobs in Scotland to date. If they had their way, we'd have another generation thrown on the unemployment scrap heap like in the 1980s. Don't let them do it again!

The economy - to act or sit back?

There are a lot of accusations of fake dividing lines in this election, but there is no clearer ideological difference than on industrial policy. In Mandy's words:

Labour believes that the Government must play a supportive role in helping business succeed. Government invests in the infrastructure, helps fund the science and research and helps invest in the skills. The Tories believe that government can only get in the way.

This is really important. Our long term economic success depends on a balanced British economy. Which government is going to help craft this, if the Tories' primary belief is stepping back from government intervention? That did not serve us so well in the 1980s, not did it help prevent the recent banking crisis.

Labour on the other hand announced today a conditional offer of a government loan has been made to Sheffield Forgemasters which will see the firm build the largest nuclear accredited steel press in Europe, able to manufacture the largest components vital for civil nuclear power stations. We're going to need nuclear power as part of our energy mix going forward, and Labour are making proactive interventions to ensure that this creates British jobs.

So, who do you want to run the country? An economic, laissez-faire Neville Chamberlain or a party that intervenes for the common good?

Tuesday

Campaign video diary



Door knocking with Anne Begg in Aberdeen

City square would be like Dons signing Ronaldo


So goes today's front page of the Evening Express, following last night's public meeting organised by my colleagues Anne Begg and Frank Doran.


Beneath the vociferous debate and Ian Wood bashing, I was struck by some gaping holes in the economic argument. The majority of the funding will come from a public sector loan, repaid through 'an increase in business rates'. The square is designed to attract businesses to city and keep them here, but won't whacking up business rates put people off? Or does Sir Ian mean an increase in the number of businesses, not the rates? Will a huge Red Square sized square really attract more businesses?


Questions, questions. Perhaps more worrying was how the meeting revealed yet again that city's business leaders are still living a future oil industry fantasy. They believe by making Aberdeen a more attractive place to live and do business, the main service companies will continue to base themselves here to support exploration and production in other counties (this is why the larger runway at Aberdeen airport is also important to Sir Ian). But these business leaders should know more than anyone how businesses follow their customer!


If you had a gas leak, would you call a plumber from Glasgow? If you're drilling in Brazil and your reservoir pressure is dropping, are you going to get an engineer in from Rio or Aberdeen? Geography aside, most national oil companies put 'local content' conditions in their contracts. Sir Ian Wood knows this. All the business leaders in ACSEF know this. Why are they pretending?

Economic recovery - a balanced view

The Conservatives’ analysis of the recent Pre Budget Report in local papers was highly politicised. A balanced view is needed, as befits a budget that strives to balance the country’s books whilst protecting the most vulnerable.

We have seen how Alastair Darling and Gordon Brown are committed to helping pensioners by upping the basic state pension by 2.5%, benefitting an estimated 1 million people in Scotland. They also commit to the future, by guaranteeing access to a job, work experience or training to all 18-24s who have been claiming job seeker’s allowance for 6 months. And Labour is also committed to helping working families, by increasing child tax credit.

Yet the Labour government are also facing up to the difficult choices. Towards meeting the their commitment to halving the budget deficit in four years, banking bonuses will be taxed at an additional 50%, public sector pay will track below inflation, and the £26.5 billion of savings already achieved will be built on by cutting quangos and consultants.

Meanwhile, opposition candidates crawl over the budget deficit figures without the courage to explain how the UK got into this situation. The reality is that under the Thatcher government in the 1980s, vast swathes of British industry were abandoned whilst global banks were encouraged to set up here, and reduced banking regulation paved the way for the excessive risk taking that ultimately caused this recession. Because of the actions of previous Conservatives, our economy is uniquely dependent upon the banking sector, compared with countries such as Germany who returned to growth much quicker due to a broader manufacturing sector.

Labour acknowledges this. That’s why the Pre Budget Report includes £150 million of funding to support the growth of the low carbon industry. By becoming leaders in exportable green technology, our country will be in a much stronger economic position for the 21st Century. These measures are also incredibly important on a local level, in sustaining local engineering and manufacturing jobs here in the North East of Scotland once the oil has run out.

What would the Conservatives do? Such is the luxury of being in opposition that they don’t offer a credible alternative. We do know, however, that the Tories’ priority is an inheritance tax giveaway of £200,000 to each of the 3,000 wealthiest estates. They would pay for this by scrapping the Child Trust Fund for those on incomes as little as £16,000 and cutting Child Tax Credits.

And what of deceit and dishonesty? The Shadow Cabinet continues to withhold whether their party’s biggest donor Lord Ashcroft, who is pumping thousands into seats like West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, pays tax in the UK or in a overseas haven. How is that honest, or fair? Meanwhile the Tartan Tories, the SNP, are just as bad, claiming their budget has been reduced for 2010, when the reality is that Alex Salmond asked for part of the Scottish Budget to be brought forward, which he then frittered it away in a unpopular independence campaign, and now has less to spend.

The Pre Budget Report epitomises the choice voters face at the next election: a Labour government that has made the right choices throughout the financial crisis - on Northern Rock and on help for businesses and families, and who are intent on rebuilding the public finances whilst protecting public services. Or, a Tory government of David Cameron and George Osborne, who got it wrong on the recession and are now getting wrong on the recovery, proposing to choke it off in a tsunami of gleeful spending cuts and tax breaks for the wealthiest.

Flooding meeting in Stonehaven

I attended a meeting of the Stonehaven and District Community Council last night. There was considerable debate over the role of different local authorities in managing the disaster, and plenty of suggestions over what needs to be done as soon as possible to prevent a repeat occurrence. To me, it seems that dredging the river is a priority.

I was particularly concerned for local businesses, who still need to trade, particularly to sell perishable stock. Please, if you want to help Stonehaven, go to the town and shop, and spread the word that Stonehaven is still open for business.

Climate change stall in Banchory high street


With other Labour party activists, I held an interactive stall on Banchory High Street to raise awareness of what local residents can do to reduce CO2 emissions in their own home.



Shoppers were presented with a model house demonstrating domestic contributions to the fight against climate change. They then voted on what energy efficiency measure was of most interest to them by placing a green flag in the house, before being presented with a leaflet with further information to take away.



With everyone looking to world leaders to agree a global deal on C02 reduction at the Copenhagen conference, it’s easy to forget the difference we can all make at home. Local activities like this, and those by the Banchory Energy Reduction Initiative, are important in raising awareness.



The most popular C02 reduction method on the day was loft insulation, which can save an average home £150 off their heating bills. Local suppliers can be found by calling the Energy Saving Trust on 0800 512 012.

Our local industry


At the recent oil industry conference Offshore Europe I was appalled, yet sadly unsurprised, to hear of Alex Salmond's behaviour. He attended the opening breakfast briefing late, and only in time to give his own speech!

It's incredible that at a time when the oil industry is looking to government for direction, Alex Salmond neglected to listen to prominent industry figures such as the head of Shell Upstream.

I attended several plenary sessions and seminars at Offshore Europe, questioning industry leaders and presenting my concerns to Lord Hunt, Energy Minister, and Jim Murphy, Scottish Secretary. I was particularly concerned by an investment bank's forecast that credit would not return to our industry for 18 to 24 months. The North Sea still has attractive and prosperous oil and gas fields. I urge the banking industry to reconsider.

Scottish Labour reveal West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine candidate

Greg Williams has been selected as the Labour Party’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the 2010 Westminster General Election. His appointment follows a unanimous vote at a meeting of the West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine Constituency Labour Party.

Speaking of his selection, Greg Williams said “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to stand for the Labour Party in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine. With people’s faith in politics and trust in politicians at an all time low, I believe we need MPs with new ideas and a commitment to reform. I’m delighted to be able to provide voters with that choice.

“The people of West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine deserve a representative who will stand up for the things that matter to them, such as developing sustainable local communities across the shire, which are served by efficient and affordable transport. We also need to face the challenge of growing our local energy industry into a green, renewables economy, to ensure everyone’s long term prosperity. I believe I am the right person to do that.”

Harry Bygate, Chair of the West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine Constituency Labour Party, said “I’m delighted to confirm Greg Williams as our candidate for the General Election.
“Greg provides the people of West Aberdeenshire with a fresh and distinct choice, as well as a commitment to the core values of welfare and opportunity, and a working knowledge of local industry. He has a desire for meeting people and discussing their concerns that is uncommon amongst today’s politicians.”

Greg Williams lives in Aberdeen, and works for a locally based oil company. His interests include hiking, cycling and history.