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In addition, residents’ signatures totalling over 4,000 collected by Ann’s local petition against the plans, have forced a U-turn by Post Office Limited and everyone who added their name can rightly claim a victory for common sense on this issue.

Commenting jointly on the announcement following the recent public consultation, the local politicians said:

“We are pleased that Royal Mail have listened to our representations regarding the original closure proposal and have recognised the overwhelming reaction of our local communities shown in the large numbers who supported our petition in calling for an adequate post office network to be preserved in the area. We appreciate difficult decisions have to be made to maintain a sustainable national network but we believe that today’s news makes good sense for the service in Kelvindale and Hyndland.”

Ann McKechin along with her colleague, Patricia Ferguson MSP for Maryhill however expressed concern at the timing of the closure at Gilshochill which will coincide with the likely demolition and rebuilding works at Maryhill shopping centre at which point postal services will be transferred for over a year to a temporary portakabin.

They stated:

“We are obviously disappointed that Royal Mail intend to close this branch but believe that at the very least the closure should not be put into effect until the adjoining post office branch based in the Maryhill shopping centre has been fully restored to a normal service level. We anticipate that removing the Maryhill branch into such temporary conditions will prove difficult given the very large numbers of local people who use the facility on a regular basis and that it is essential that adjoining services including those at Gilshochill are retained to meet a likely increased demand”. [ENDS]

Notes for editors

• Ann McKechin MP has been running a local campaign with her Holyrood colleagues against the Post Office’s proposed closures programme in the constituency which would have seen half of all Post Offices in Glasgow North shut down.
• With the help of a broad base of community activists Ann collected over 4,000 signatures for a local petition against the original proposals, at the time of her official submission to the consultation programme run by Post Office Limited.

Whether in education or work, we know costs are major consideration for all young people, so the Labour Party have instituted this new low membership rate to completely equalize the affordability of being a member to all young people.

We hope you’ll be able to find a quid down the back of the sofa, and get on with helping us develop new policies and ideas which will better our party and replace the pathetic mediocrity of the SNP by helping Labour win in Scotland on a brand new agenda.

You could get involved in our campaign activites, come along and enjoy our local social events like curry nights, quiz nights and raffles; meet out MPs, MSPs and Councillors and perhaps even end up representing Labour by standing for something yourself in the future!

Everyone’s voice will be heard, Labour is the only political movement where young people stand as equals in all aspects of our democratic party.

• Click here to join for £1 online now at the Young Labour website
• Visit www.younglabour.org.uk

As the recent joint UNAIDS-World Health Organisation report shows, there are 33.2 million people living with HIV and AIDS worldwide in 2007. UNAIDS estimates that every day, over 6,800 people become infected with HIV, and over 5,700 people die from AIDS. That’s a death from AIDS every 15 seconds.

A continued stong international effort, improving upon the good work already being done by the Labour Government is needed to give people the life extending drugs to which they are entitled.

You can read the full story on Ann McKechin’s Parliamentary News - and please visit the World AIDS Day website to find out more.

Above: The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, gives his World AIDS Day message

“This plan to close half of the post offices in the constituency is unacceptable. The Post Office plans to close Kelvindale, Hyndland, West End (Dumbarton Road) and Gilshochill Post Offices.

These plans are totally unacceptable. The Post Office must think again - these post offices provide a valuable local facility. They are more than just a business – they are an important part of our local communities. Why should residents in Glasgow North suffer such a disproportionate cut in services? The Post Office has said they want to close 20% of post offices over all, yet they want to close half of the post offices in this area. I am giving a clear message to the Post Office – don’t close our local offices.”

Ann is urging constituents to join the campaign to save the post offices from closure and has launched a local petition. If you would like copies of the petition contact Ann. It is important that the views of local people are made known to the Post Office in the six-week consultation programme. Ann’s campaign is supported by local MSPs Bill Butler, Patricia Ferguson and Pauline McNeill. They have issued a joint statement condemning the closure plans: “Local post offices are an important part of local communities. We want to see services improved and not post offices closed down. We would urge local residents to support this campaign to save these post offices.”

Glasgow North MP, Ann McKechin and Maryhill MSP, Patricia Ferguson are working with the Stockline Support Group and the STUC for a full public judicial inquiry. As yet, the families of those who were killed and the employees who survived have still to have access to the huge amount of evidence gathered by the Crown Office and Health and Safety or the ability to question the key players about the events. Over the last three years, Ann and Patricia, have worked closely with the Stockline Support Group and throughout that time their members and many others in the local community have asked that lessons are learnt so that such an event can never occur again. Labour’s Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Peter Hain, accepted an invitation from Ann McKechin to meet with the families of the bereaved and hear their plea for the fullest possible public inquiry that will examine all aspects of the tragedy. Only such an inquiry can give the families the justice they deserve and let Scotland address its shameful record on protecting vulnerable workers.

Labour knows that debt relief, international laws and fair trade all have a crucial role to play in making our world a fairer, more equal place. There is an increasingly important debate about how best to tackle the problems holding back the world’s poorest economies and crushing the world’s poorest people. The Labour Party, which was founded over 100 years ago to fight for social justice and representation for ordinary working class people at home, is determined to lead that struggle abroad. Meanwhile, David Cameron’s Tories are almost entirely financed by big businesses and the ready-rich.

The Conservatives simply cannot be trusted to take action on international economic reforms, tackle exploitative vulture funds abroad, nor to continue the Labour Government’s work on debt relief.

Your views are needed
We’re working on framing a debate which will lead to a strong agenda for action on International Development, Debt, Aid and Trade. We want to hear your views on how we can improve International Development policy. To join the debate online, please click here.

Glasgow North Labour’s elected representatives are very keen to make sure that communities like Gilshochill are able to speak up when vandalism or the anti-social behaviour of a small minority cause problems for other tenants and residents. If you’ve got a local issue you need to raise, please visit our Contact section to get in touch.