Douglas Alexander MP

Labour MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South

Paisley Daily Express Column - 25 Jan 2012

Action Needed Now to Help A Lost Generation

Across the country, communities are facing a crisis of rising unemployment. As the Paisley Daily express revealed last week 5,300 across Renfrewshire were claiming Jobseekers Allowance but just 674 vacancies were available.

Across Renfrewshire as a whole, eight job seekers were chasing every available vacancy – but in the south of Renfrewshire, the statistics were even worse.

Last week’s figures showed unemployment in Scotland rising to higher levels than the rest of the UK hitting 231,000.

The figures also show a rise of 19,000 more people in Scotland losing their job. Employment also fell. The number of 18-24 year olds who claimed JSA for over 12 months has increased by 123.3% in the last year, an overall rise of 2000. The number of women out of work rose by 25% in the last 3 months.

In truth, we are facing a toxic mix of unemployment and low growth in Scotland. It needs a crisis response from the Scottish Government – and action by the British Government too.

Otherwise we risk being pushed into a vicious cycle of low growth and high unemployment, with all the social misery that goes with the fear of recession.

We are also facing a youth unemployment epidemic, with soaring numbers of Scots with the skills, and the grades, but without the chance to work.

What is needed from the Government - in Edinburgh and Westminster – is not excuses but action. We can’t afford another lost generation here in Renfrewshire.

Reid Kerr Cuts

All of us know that times are tough and that difficult decisions are facing all Governments. Yet I simply can’t understand the thinking behind the Scottish government’s decision to slash funding for Reid Kerr and other Further Education colleges.

This year Reid Kerr’s funds are being cut by 10.4% with further cuts continuing till 2015.

All of this is happening when locally we’re facing a jobs crisis. Audrey Cumberford, the Reid Kerr Principal, does an outstanding job in very difficult circumstances. I only wish the Government in Edinburgh understood how vital its work is to ensure local young people can avoid the dole queue and secure the jobs they need.

Paisley on TV for the Wrong Reasons

Paisley High Street was featured on Newsnight Scotland last week....for all the wrong reasons.

The shut up shops on the High Street were highlighted as an example of the problems being faced in these tough economic times.

News came the same week that Peacocks – the retail chain with stores in both the Piazza and a concession within the Co-op stores at the Paisley Centre is now at risk.

The company has decided to announce a notice of intention to go into administration, and if no agreement is reached, jobs and the stores would be at risk if no buyer is found.

The local Council Leadership are only too happy to take the credit when things are going well. Now they have a responsibility to act – and act quickly – to respond to the crisis on our High Street.

Janey Buchan

Last week Scottish Labour lost one of our stalwarts – a woman with a strong connection to Renfrewshire.

Janey Buchan, who died at the age of 85, was a Strathclyde councillor (1974 – 79) and a member of the European Parliament for Glasgow (1979-94), and a cultural and political activist.

But she was also the wife of one of my predecessors – Norman Buchan MP.

My earliest memories of Janey and Norman were their visits to my father’s Manse in Bishopton. Janey and Norman rejected narrow nationalism throughout their lives because they were internationalists – who cared deeply about ending poverty both at home and abroad.

Janey’s passing is a real loss to Labour, and to Scotland