I look forward to seeing over the forthcoming month the general improvement of our roads across the city.

You can help highlight the potholes in your area by reporting them to the Council with a quick and easy online report here: https://forms.aberdeencity.gov.uk/default.aspx/RenderForm/?F.Name=fdYjGnotSjm&HideToolbar=2

You can also contact the Council by:

Tel: 0845 608 0919

Letter:

Road Surface Maintenance

Marischal College
Broad Street
Aberdeen
AB10 1AB

As of tomorrow 29th January, First Bus Aberdeen will yet again increase its bus fares.

If you haven’t seen the new fares then follow the link – First Bus revised fares from Sunday 29 January (PDF – 850.18 KB).

As a Scottish Liberal Democrat I am proud of our record on Eduction in Scotland. We are the party who scrapped tuition fees in Scottish, the Scottish Liberal Democrats are also the party who helps scrap the graduation endowment, and again in the final budget of the Parliament in 2011 thanks to the pressure from the Scottish Liberal Democrats we helped prevent a £1.7m cut and secured an extra £15m for Further Education (FE) bursaries.

It therefore saddens me that in just a few short months after substantial funding was secured for FE,  £40 Million is being cut out of the FE budget. To worsen the matter further Education Secretary Michael Russell appears to have ‘throw in the towel’ in the fight to reverse the deep cuts to Scottish college budgets.

At Education Questions in the Scottish Parliament this afternoon, Mr Russell confirmed to Mr McArthur that he felt the current £40m cut represented a ‘full, fair and final settlement’ for the colleges.

Speaking after the exchange, Mr McArthur said:

“Since the Scottish Government published its draft budget last September, the amount it has to spend has increased by around £750m, according to figures produced by the Scottish Parliament’s Financial Scrutiny Unit. During yesterday’s debate on the Budget Bill, however, the Finance Secretary, John Swinney refused to reveal how those funds would be spent.

“Scottish Liberal Democrats believe some of these additional resources should be used to reverse the deep and damaging cuts the SNP are making to the budgets of Scotland’s colleges. It was not unreasonable to expect the Education Secretary to be equally keen on making such a case to Mr Swinney.

“Astonishingly, he appears to have thrown in the towel and believes the £40m cut is a ‘full, fair and final settlement’, despite the fact that the Budget Bill will not be finally agreed for another month.

“Mr Russell appears more keen to attack anyone who disagrees with him than defend Scotland’s colleges and students. This will not have gone unnoticed on campuses across the country”.

I have no doubt Lani Baird, President of Aberdeen Colleges Student Association, along with her NUS Scotland colleagues will be very disappointed by the position the Education Secretary has taken.

I for one will continuing to support and stand up for Scotland’s colleges, and back the Our Future Our Fight campaign.

So the Scottish Elections didn’t exactly go exactly as we planned, however we didn’t just roll over and give up. No. We have jumped straight back up again and with the election of the new leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Willie Rennie MSP. Within his first few weeks Willie has shown despite a small parliamentary team we can still pack a punch and make a impact on Scottish Government policy to re-start the climb of the mountain at a steady jogging pace, in a true Willie style.

Alison Mcinnes MSP our justice spokesperson today proved just that, questioning the ferocity of the pace at which the SNP Government appear to be pushing bills through the parliament. Today it is Alex Salmond’s anti-sectarianism bill, which the SNP Government wants to become law by the time the football season starts at the end of July. Just to point out, parliamentary recess takes place from the beginning of July until the beginning of September. You do the maths.

Alison addressed this in her speech this afternoon, saying:

….we want to see action on sectarianism. Let us be very clear.  Sectarianism has no place in our society.  Every single one of us in this chamber agrees that any discrimination based on religion is unacceptable; any threatening behaviour based on religion is wrong; and any acts inciting violence because of religion must not be tolerated. However, I think that the Government are naïve if they believe they can solve a centuries old problem by rushing through new legislation in the next fortnight. Just this weekend, the Cabinet Secretary for Parliamentary Business wrote of how he would like to see more pre-legislative scrutiny in Parliament.  Can I say now, that, for once, I agree wholeheartedly with Mr Crawford.  The Government are talking about introducing two entirely new offences onto the statute books.  Surely it is right that Parliament – that the people of Scotland – are allowed the time to study the proposals, take evidence, and try to ensure that there are no unintended consequences, no collateral infringements on law-abiding citizens’ liberties?  Oh, and to ensure that the new law actually does what it is intended to. There are many questions that any Government should have to answer before they can introduce a new law.  And any responsible Parliament cannot – or at least, should not – pass a law until all such questions are answered. This proposed new law is no different.  And the first – and most fundamental – question asks whether a new law is actually needed? The Cabinet Secretary tried to answer this very question on Newsnight a couple of weeks ago.  He said there are gaps in current Breach of the Peace definitions, meaning that “in some instances” there could be difficulties in prosecutions.  He might be right, but I say to him – we need to see the evidence.
Are there gaps?  Well, just under a month ago, the then Solicitor General Frank Mulholland issued a press release welcoming “the high prosecution rate for crimes of religious prejudice.”
If there are gaps would the new law close them?  Well, I await sight of the Bill with interest, but I can guarantee we won’t be able to adequately answer that question in two weeks with no chance to take expert evidence. I would also say this.  In England and Wales in the three years to 2010 since the Racial and Religious Hatred Act was enacted, there were 36,763 completed prosecutions of offences that were racially or religiously aggravated.  In that time, exactly one person was charged with an offence that had been introduced by the new Act.  He was acquitted.
The Racial and Religious Hatred Act is a solid law.  It was debated in depth.  Expert evidence was taken over many days and weeks.  And it has made zero difference to convictions for religiously or racially motivated crimes. I am not saying that a new law will not work.  I am asking the Government to take the necessary time to consider all possibilities.
Is it that offensive chanting is already covered by Breach of the Peace, but is simply hard to police because of the number of people involved? Is it that sending bullets through the post is actually already covered through anti-terrorism legislation?
Is it that sending death threats via the internet is already covered by the UK Communications Act? And is it that the sectarian aspect of all these crimes is already dealt with by section 74 of the 2003 Criminal Justice Act, and it just needs to be enforced better? These are the questions the Government should be asking before it introduces legislation.  And it should be giving Parliament time to find the answers.

Well done Alison, it is imperative we keep the SNP Government in check and hold them to account, this is exactly the way in which to do it.

It is vital in any council that you have a hard working individual, someone who is approachable, dedicated to the local community and will get the job done. Kristian is that person.

I have met Kristian on a number of occasions as member of the Scottish Liberal Democrats executive and the President of Liberal Youth Scotland (Scottish Liberal Democrats youth movement). His passion for Aberdeen, the young people of Scotland, along with his clear liberal principles, Kristian will stand up not only for those in Dyce, Bucksburn and Danestone but Liberal Democrats across the UK.

I urge all Liberal Democrats in Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and beyond to help Kristian in this vital by-election and secure a win for the Liberal Democrats at this difficult time.

To contact the campaign team and help Kristian win in Dyce, Bucksburn and Danestone please contact Jenny Marr on J.Marr.06@aberdeen.ac.uk.

There is plenty to do over the next 9 days and just an hour of your time will be invaluable to the campaign.

Regards,
Tim Farron MP
Party President
Liberal Democrats

Back in October 2010 I received a response, and was given a full break down of the situation at the time.

Public Notices weere published on Friday 26 March 2010 to inform the public that Parliament had approved the relevant Schemes and Trunk Road Orders and that all remaining Orders had also been made. However in May 2010 legal challenges were submitted to the Court of Session challenging the decision by Scottish Ministers to proceed with the Scheme. Nevertheless I was advised that construction was to start in 2011.

Well we are now in 2011 and I have yet to see a digger start creating the foundations so I asked for an update.

I was informed that assuming a successful outcome to the legal challenges, Transport Scotland would need to carry out a thorough review of the remaining stages of the project, including procurement, before issuing a definitive timetable to construction.

I know from my previous research into the matter that until the AWPR is built the Haudagain roundabout will not be touched.

I feel that this saga has gone on for too long.  I will be that strong voice needed within the council to champion the need of the AWPR and Haudagain roundabout improvements for the City and beyond.

For the many of you that know me the one thing I hate more than anything about politics is the cheap jibes at one another in order to score political points. I can’t help but feel that yesterday’s ‘emergency’ council meeting was one such attempt in the run up to the Scottish Parliamentary Elections on May 5th.

Why do I feel this?  I do so for two reasons, firstly the motion did not attack the council for its decision for Union Terrace Gardens but a member of council staff and a report that they had written. Secondly, the plans for Union Terrace Gardens have not come to light and I very much look forward to the proposed designs being brought forward by architects from around the world in a competition this summer.

Scotland should be proud; we have time and time again led the way on reform of our politics and political system. Now 3 out of 5 times when going to vote and mark our ballot paper at elections, you will number your candidates in order of preference as opposed to putting a cross in the box.

When do we use each system?

Preference systems

Local Elections

European Elections

Regional list in the Scottish Parliamentary Elections

First Past the Post

Westminster

Scottish constituency elections

Yesterday I was at the Scotland Yes! To Fairer Votes Campaign launch, backed by a cross party panel of Charles Kennedy MP (Liberal Democrats), Douglas Alexander MP (Labour), John Mason (SNP) & Patrick Harvie (Scottish Green).

Charles Kennedy MP (Liberal Democrats), Douglas Alexander MP (Labour), John Mason (SNP) & Patrick Harvie (Scottish Green)

The message was clear; our current system isn’t working and in the words of Patrick Harvie “we need to put First Past The post in the bin”.  It is outdated and is no longer fit for purpose at Westminster.

In the 2010 General Election on average 70% of voters do not have a say on who is elected in their constituency.

I believe our current First Past The Post system is undemocratic and fundamentally wrong and that is why I back the Yes! To Fairer Votes campaign to change it to Alternative Vote.

So what is Alternative Vote?

Simple, you number your candidates in order of preference. Then the candidate with 50% or more of the popular vote wins. Easy.

Watch this video by the Electoral Commission to find out more:

To get involved in the campaign or to read more about Alternative Vote then please go to www.yestofairervotes.org.

On Thursday night staff at the ARI were told that First Aberdeen are to cut the frequency of the no 5 bus for the second time this year. The frequency was cut from 15 to 20 minutes in January and First Bus are now going to reduce the service again to every 30 minutes. This will have a direct impact on the people who use it in Danestone and the surrounding communities. This to put it bluntly is an unacceptable move by First Bus breaking a promise made by the Managing Director only a year ago.

In December 2009 First bus proposed to modify the route between Foresterhill and the Bridge of Don. After a public meeting held by Malcolm Bruce MP of which over 100 people made there voices heard, Bob Dorr the then Managing Director of First Bus Group stated that he was wrong on the usage of the bus route. He continued further by making a commitment to the people at the meeting, speaking behalf of First Bus Group, that any proposed changes to the Number 5 route would first have to be consulted with the general public.

Let us not forget that this route was given a Route Development Grant by the Scottish Government of approximately £250,000, which help provide 4 buses and infrastructure on the route to insure a higher frequency of buses. If this is to be modified leading to a service reduction will First bus give the Scottish Government its £250,000 back?

I for one, will not let this proposed change to the route happen without the people being consulted first as promised by First Bus Group. I will be working with Cllr George Penny and Malcolm Bruce MP to see this happens.

Stating on the Commons that “to call this a budget of growth is ludicrous”

Highlighting the impact this tax will have on investment in the region.
 
I praise all that they have both done so far, I will continue to speak to our MPs on the behalf Dyce, Bucksburn and Danestone, ensure our voices stay heard.