By Lucy Ashton
Poverty is the scourge of the working classes. Along with homelessness and poorly maintained social housing stock, it is one of if not the major issue on the minds of the electorate as West Dunbartonshire goes to the polls tomorrow (Thursday).
More than one in four children in West Dunbartonshire are living in poverty while the local Labour council insists in carrying on making the public service cuts in the midst of the worst cost of living crisis in living memory.
People in West Dunbartonshire are having to rely on food banks to feed their family. Debts to gas and electricity companies are soaring through the roof.
Repairs to social housing stock are falling badly behind and black dampness problems are being monitored instead of being eradicated.
Large numbers of people are literally wondering where their next meal is coming from.
One national newspaper canvassed the candidates who will be standing for election to represent the 100,000 people in West Dunbartonshire in the House of Commons.
But potential voters are so sick and tired of being led up the garden path by politicians who make so many promises they never keep and who appear to have a Me First attitude akin to Margaret Thatcher.
Martin Docherty Hughes seems to think the voting public will be taken in by having a photograph of himself taken with Dumbarton Castle in the background.
But we all know his is a Bankie to the soles of his boots.
Martin Docherty-Hughes (SNP)
His take begins with the cliché about heating and eating and says that nobody would have to choose between eating and heating if Scotland achieved independence.
He said: “Sir Keir Starmer – who proudly states his admiration for Margaret Thatcher – is wedded to the same Tory austerity measures which have been so damaging to our local communities.”
Andrew Muir (Scottish Family Party)He said: “In the short term there should be a minimum income guarantee so that no-one is homeless or starving. We should build more houses. There are some empty properties in the area which should be filled.
In the long term we need a fundamental change of culture in West Dunbartonshire. People with creative ideas who are not from the major parties are routinely criticised or banned. West Dunbartonshire Council is full of nepotism and block votes. There is a freedom of speech problem. There is an honesty problem. If someone whistle blows to show that a large amount of money is being wasted on a particular project they should be applauded not told to be quiet about the matter. The Public Finance Initiatives (PFIs) have been very badly managed leaving the area in long-term debt for decades. There seems to be a desire to close libraries but this is very short-sighted. Education is the key to bettering yourself. We are too dependent on the NHS which is the derelict Artizan centre’s only new named tenant. We should look at Helensburgh for entrepreneurship.”
Maurice Corry (Conservative)
He said: “Having represented this area for five years in the Scottish Parliament and now as a councillor for the neighbouring Lomond North ward, I have sadly seen first-hand what a devastating impact deprivation can have on people. In far too many cases, poverty is linked to people living in unsuitable housing or being unable to afford suitable homes for themselves or their family. As your MP, fighting for West Dunbartonshire to get its fair share when it comes to housing funding will be one of my top priorities.”
David Smith (Reform UK)
He said: “Reform will tackle this by raising the basic rate at which tax is paid from £12,570 to £20,000 which will help every family in Scotland. Environmental levies and VAT on energy bills will be scrapped and fuel duty will be lowered from 52.95p to 20p. We have bold plans for social housing reform, new housing development projects and incentives to encourage private landlords back into the sector to diversify the housing market. No other party is tackling the low pay and high tax system.”
Paula Baker (Scottish Greens)
She said: “Nothing shows how people in West Dunbartonshire have been let down by Government like the shocking levels of poverty. It should be the job of every politician and each Government to make sure nobody struggles to feed a child or to keep a roof over their head, especially when the richest people are more comfortable than ever. I’m proud that Scottish Greens MSPs have made real progress, increasing the Scottish Child Payment, lifting 50,000 children in Scotland out of relative poverty this year.”
Kelly Wilson (Sovereignty)
The growing poverty rate in Scotland should make everybody think before casting their vote. Scotland has witnessed a sharp rise in poverty, especially since Covid. By now every fourth child in Scotland lives in poverty, minimum wage employees and pensioners are also affected. This has been made worse by, not only Scotland’s political parties providing only lip service, but the UK Government in general.”
Douglas McAllister (Labour)
It is shocking that more than one in four children in West Dunbartonshire are now living in poverty. The SNP have broken all their promises to the young people of Scotland presiding over static rates for children living in poverty. Right across Scotland children are paying the price for 14 years of Tory failure and 17 years of SNP failure. It’s time for change. This election is a chance to tackle poverty and boost pay by electing a Labour government that Scotland and West Dunbartonshire cannot afford to miss. There are over 200,000 Scots currently not paid the Real Living Wage, many in West Dunbartonshire. Labour will deliver a new deal for working people with our plan to lift the minimum wage to a wage people can live on and a pay rise for those in West Dunbartonshire living on the breadline. I live here in West Dunbartonshire and I see at first hand that local families are struggling with household bills. Labour will set up GB Energy, a publicly owned clean power company headquartered in Scotland to cut fuel bills for good paid for by a windfall tax on energy giants. There is a choice ahead of us, more of the same under the Tories and the SNP or change with Scottish Labour.
The Dumbarton Democrat will not be publishing any more election material until polling is closed at 10pm on Thursday. The result is not likely to be announced until 2am on Friday.
Spoiled for choice – eh?