January 2006

31.1.2006 16:50
MORE EX-SERVICE PERSONNEL ELIGIBLE FOR VETERANS BADGE
Many more ex-service personnel in Inverclyde will now be eligible for the popular Veterans Badge after Defence Secretary, John Reid, announced it is being extended to everyone who served in the Armed Forces or Home Guard before1954. Merchant Seamen who saw active service during the war years are also eligible, as are War Widows in receipt of a War Widows pension. And there are also plans to extend it to all veterans at some point in the future.  

26.1.2006 10:05
CAIRNS PLEDGES COMMITMENT TO HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY
To commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day on Friday 27th January, the Holocaust Educational Trust organised for Members of Parliament to sign the Holocaust Memorial Day Book of Commitment to honour the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust and pay tribute to the bravery of those who risked their lives to help the persecuted.  

24.1.2006 11:35
MP URGES COUNCIL TO BACK FAIRTRADE STEERING GROUP
Fairtrade is high on the agenda at the Municipal Buildings on Thursday, when the Council’s Best Value and Corporate Services Committee meet to discuss how to help Inverclyde achieve Fairtrade status. Local MP David Cairns, who has been involved in the campaign to make Inverclyde a Fairtrade area since it began last spring, is urging the council to throw their weight behind the Fairtrade Steering Group and promote the use of Fairtrade produce throughout the council.  

23.1.2006 09:59
LABOUR’S PLAN TO FIND INVERCLYDE’S 6,000 MISSING VOTERS REBUFFED
Inverclyde Labour Councillors have had their plans to find the 6,000 voters who have fallen off the electoral register rebuffed by the official body in charge of registration. At a meeting of Renfrewshire Joint Valuation Board in Paisley on January13th Councillor Iain McKenzie proposed a door-to-door canvass to put the individuals concerned back on the voting roll, but his plan did not was not accepted.  

18.1.2006 07:51
KEEPING INVERKIP IN THE PICTURE
Inverclyde MP, David Cairns, is going into battle once again for Inverkip residents unable to receive the usual BBC and ITV television channels. Surrounding hills prevent villagers from getting the signal from the Blackhill transmitter, and they have to pay for satellite TV just to get the ordinary stations the rest of us take for granted. The BBC has refused to consider David’s call for a reduction in the level of the license fee for those unable to receive a signal through the normal ariel, and has also said it will not invest in improving the current generation of transmitters are they are due to be replaced entirely in a couple of years when everyone is switched over to digital TV.  

16.1.2006 07:39
CAIRNS WARNS ANTI-SOCIAL PEOPLE COULD LOSE BENEFITS
Nuisance neighbours in Inverclyde could lose their housing benefits, so says Inverclyde’s local MP. David was speaking after the launch of the Prime Ministers Respect Action Plan, which raises the prospect of housing benefit being removed from people who persistently disrupt and ruin the lives of their neighbours and refuse to mend their ways. Housing benefit is reserved to Westminster, and the Department of Work and Pensions is in discussions with the Scottish Executive about how this could be implemented in Scotland.   

13.1.2006 10:45
NEW COMMONS LAW WILL HELP FIND INVERCLYDE’S 6000 MISSING VOTERS
Measures contained in the Electoral Administration Bill will give new powers to help find the thousands of people in Inverclyde who are missing from the electoral register. Inverclyde’s MP, David Cairns, has been steering the Bill through the Commons in his capacity as Deputy Secretary of State for Scotland. The Bill, which received its final reading on Wednesday 11th January, gives local Electoral Registration Officers new powers to help them register voters and puts a duty on them to actively pursue those who have not completed the form to get onto the register. The Bill also introduces tough new measures to crack down on postal voting fraud