Campaigning for today’s General Election has been in full force for the last month.
Candidates from all parties have been knocking on doors, meeting with the public and writing into us to try and win your vote.
Over the last three weeks we have asked candidates about issues such as Brexit and the NHS, but at the core of why a candidate is voted is how they represent their community.
A local MP is a representative for the community and votes on behalf of them in Westminster.
Having strong opinions on national issues is of course important, but knowing what is going on in and around your community is a must for an MP.
That is why this week, we have asked your candidates about local issues in the areas they hope to represent in Westminster.
How will they fix these issues? Do they feel strongly about the area they wish to represent for the next five years?
Our candidates for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, and East Renfrewshire have their say.
Monique McAdams, Labour
There are many things I could touch upon; from axing the out of hours GP service at Hairmyres, the controversial Stewartfield Way, lack of parking at Hairmyres Station and cuts to local police, which I believe is having a knock-on effect with increased anti-social behaviour at Lindsay House.
One issue I would like to focus on is widening access to sports, for those with disabilities. As CEO of the East Kilbride Community Trust and through volunteering in the community, I have a track record of supporting children with additional support needs. When done right, inclusivity can do wonders for children who would have traditionally been excluded from sports.
One example is that of Lucy from East Kilbride and her passion for football. Lucy was diagnosed as being autistic and suffers from hypermobility syndrome. Some days the pain is too much and Lucy is unable to walk. She undergoes daily physio and some days can only walk short distances due to the pain. The nature of this degenerative disease means Lucy will one day be fully reliant on the use of a wheelchair.
I have had the pleasure of working with and supporting Lucy and her family, through the creation of the EKFC Sunday Club. This offers children like Lucy the opportunity to play weekly football, providing a safe, supportive environment that allows them to build confidence and create lifelong friendships.
Lucy is a fighter and an inspiration. The work being carried out by the Sunday Club is a shining example of inclusivity working in sports. Our communities have been badly let down by the lack of suitable facilities and inclusive sports clubs, for this, the blame lies squarely at door of the SNP. As a Councillor, this was something I championed and would continue to do so as your MP.
Lisa Cameron, SNP
I made a promise to this constituency to be your accessible MP, and have been proud to keep this promise, opening offices in East Kilbride and Strathaven dealing with almost 13,000 of your constituency concerns. No other party MP has opened a Strathaven office to protect rural constituents needs alongside those in EK. We can’t allow this to close.
I have supported over 200 local organisations, championed their work via Early Day Motions to Parliament, petitioned to save the free TV licence for Over 75s and to save EK’s Town Centre M&S. I have held three well-attended WASPI events and the SNP manifesto pledges full recompense for this pensions injustice.
I will continue to prioritise the local issues important to you – improving bus services, reducing littering and increasing access to GP appointments. I continue to take a zero-tolerance stance on antisocial behaviour in our local squares, in Strathaven and in EK’s beautiful Village.
I will always fight devastating Tory plans to close our Centre One HMRC, with the planned loss of thousands of local jobs in EK. It is not in an MP’s gift to ‘bin the Stewartfield dualling project’ so I won’t be disingenuous, but I do pledge to fight your corner at the highest level in Parliament.
I have been proud to bring back my award as Parliamentarian of the Year 2019 to our constituency where I grew up. Enable me to continue this work as chairwoman of the Disability All Party Group for the most vulnerable.
It is vital that you elect a strong SNP voice for Scotland’. We must exit Brexit as dithering Jeremy Corbyn has no clear position on this fundamental issue whilst Boris’ Tories will consign us to years of US trade talks. Choose SNP who will always protect your interests at Westminster.
Erica Bradley-Young, Greens
In my job as a legal advisor for the Citizens Advice Bureau I give vulnerable people a voice in Court and the council.
I have seen the horrific impact of welfare reform on people here in Lanarkshire and as your MP I will fight for a social safety net based on our obligation as a society to provide for each other.
And I want to see an end to the current assessment process for disability benefits.
I will challenge poverty and prioritize mental health and tackle the things that contribute to both - debt, insecure work, housing and the education gap. Having lived in EK and Strathaven and been reliant on expensive and infrequent bus services, I understand how poor public transport can limit life and a town’s economy.
I will use all my influence to scrap the out of date South Lanarkshire City Deal projects to dual the Greenhills and Stewartfield Ways.
Instead I will work with everyone to develop a Green City Deal, informed by the priorities of local people across the constituency, including quality local jobs, social housing and decent public transport. Greens will also fight to keep existing jobs at the tax centre and stop further centralizing plans to remove jobs from our town.
East Kilbride was once known for its vision and pioneering ideas.
With the right political leadership – that looks to the future, that challenges the status quo and works together with our students, citizens and all our talents – our constituency can be proud pioneers again.
As your MP I will champion a Green New Deal to create thousands of new jobs, tackle the climate emergency and improve health.
Directing investment into energy efficiency, renewables, public transport, active travel and our environment, our rural and urban areas can be dynamic again.
Gail MacGregor, Tories
During this campaign I have chatted to many people on the doorstep and responded to countless messages.
Time and time again there has been a recurring theme, every local issue that is raised by you has the SNP at the root of it’s failure. Locally GP numbers are declining, we have a recruitment crisis and sadly many GP practices across Lanarkshire are now implementing a limited appointments system, most recently The Glebe Medical Centre in Lesmahagow. Treatment time guarantees are being missed and patients have no idea when they will be treated. This is all despite NHS budgets being protected. It is simply not good enough.
A significant chunk of funding is coming to South Lanarkshire through the Glasgow City Deal and it must be directed appropriately and in full consultation with you.
The Stewartfield Way proposals are not wanted by the local community and would be a ridiculous waste of £62m which could be better spent on improving rail links and funding a parking solution at Hairmyres.
The council needs to show far more imagination, for instance by backing the East Kilbride Task Force’s vision to make East Kilbride a centre of low carbon excellence.
We must tackle historic under investment in our town centres and we can’t forget about investment in our rural areas either, we must do more to improve transport and connectivity links to our smaller settlements.
I truly believe no one should feel left behind or without a voice, whether you are trying to find a job whilst managing excruciatingly tight finances; keeping your business going in challenging times; seeking ‘care at home’ for a loved one or navigating your way through 1140 childcare options, I will be there to help you, that is my pledge if I am elected to serve you on December 12.
Ewan McRobert, Lib Dem
East Kilbride was designed to have an abundance of green spaces to attract people from an overcrowded polluted Glasgow. Sadly this vision has been lost.
Building companies have been allowed to build massive new estates, with no amenities or services to support them. This puts pressure on existing services and it’s the green spaces in the older areas of the town that are then built upon to meet this demand.
Neither the people in the new estates nor the old benefit from this approach.
Residents have been forced to create groups such as Friends of Westwoodhill, Friends Of Langlands Moss and Friends of the Showpark to fight for their green spaces. They do wonderful work, but they shouldn’t be needed. If elected I would put pressure on the council to look after our green spaces & to demand more from building companies, who are creating communities with no schools or community centres.
Lindsayfield is an area of the town which is reliant on one partially completed road. The resulting congestion is frustrating for residents, bad for the environment and dangerous, limiting emergency services access to the area. Yet builders want to expand this area before the road is finished.
Lib Dem councillor Fiona Dryburgh has done a fantastic job fighting for the residents by asking tough questions of the planning department and I’d support her in that fight.
I’m not convinced by the case for the dualling of Stewartfield Way. It will bring more traffic to existing chokepoints. Residents should be at the centre of any decision regarding proposals and I’d encourage them to take part in the consultation.
Another aspect of the town that is in decline are our shopping mcentres. The Liberal Democrats would reverse this trend by abolishing business rates, to lower shops’ costs and revive the high street.
David Mackay, UKIP
The use of temporary portacabin operating theatres at Hairmyers, which while justified by the need for upgrade of the existing theatres, do look a bit shabby for a modern major regional hospital. Especially as the patients will need moved out into the open air in winter weather.
Surely at least a weather protected access could have been arranged or the cabins directly connected to the hospital building.
And then very recently, the hospital was reported to be turning away 999 patients due to being full. Meanwhile, East Kilbride is being expanded with reckless green belt house building but with little thought to expanding infrastructure, while even the hospital struggles to cope with the present area population.
In this rush to expand the town, money is being spent on dual carriageways. Even though at present the Greenhills Road section doesn’t have the traffic demand to justify dualling.
Unless there are plans to attract a vast increase in traffic by house building and ‘development’ of the land already developed as vital prime farming land! Now 62million is planned to be spent on the dual carriageway at Stewartfield. Wouldn’t it be better to spend all this road money on a more direct link by rail into Glasgow or branch line to the South of EK, even out to Strathaven?
Or at least much improved bus services. That is what modern towns and cities do and with motoring increasingly penalised, it seems folly to expand roads, not simply to cope with existing traffic but to actually attract more traffic.
The mad plan to tax people for being at work with their car is still under consideration in Glasgow, affecting constituency commuters working in Glasgow and who have no realistic alternative transport. A local parking charge increase is also under consideration.
