Find out what we have been doing in Edinburgh
Cllr Scott Arthur selected as Candidate for Edinburgh South West
Cllr Scott Arthur has been selected to be the candidate for Scottish Labour standing in Edinburgh South West at the next General Election. Four out of the five Edinburgh Westminster constituencies now have candidates with selections still to take place in Edinburgh West.
Statement from Cammy Day on the sad passing of Alistair Darling
I was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Alistair Darling today, one of the most important Chancellors in the history of our country, and a dedicated, committed, and principled public servant to his core. “He represented Edinburgh diligently for well over 30 years as a Councillor and MP and his loss will be felt across the city and in his local community of Morningside. “I was lucky enough to know Alistair for many years and he was a constant source of sage advice, good humour, and humility. “My thoughts and condolences are with his wife Maggie and his family at this incredibly difficult time.
Leader’s Report, Councillor Cammy Day
Foysol Choudhury MSP, e-news Letter
Leader’s Report, Councillor Cammy Day
Future of the South Suburban Line
Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern and Cllr Scott Arthur, Transport Convenor for Edinburgh City Council, discuss the potential future of the Edinburgh South Suburban Rail line with Journeys Through Edinburgh. Producing a study looking at the potential for reopening of the Edinburgh South Suburban Rail line and other disused railway infrastructure around the city was a Labour manifesto pledge in the Edinburgh 2022 Council Elections.
Click here to see the full Video.
Candidates Selected for North & Leith and East
Tracy Gilbert has been selected to represent Labour in Edinburgh North and Leith at next years Westminster election. Chris Murray has been selected as the candidate for Edinburgh East. Both candidates were selected at the same Hustings with members across two constituencies being presented with all male and all female shortlists.
Cammy Day Hosts Meeting with Trans Community Representatives
Cammy Day, Labour Group Leader and Leader of Edinburgh City Council , hosted a meeting today with representatives from across the city’s Trans Community.
The meeting was to find ways to make the city’s services more inclusive and accessible to the Trans Community. Cammy Day said;
“Thanks to LGBT youth Scotland and LGBT health and equality network for taking part today. I look forward to working together with them to improve our services”.
Message of condolence from Cammy Day for the passing of Henry Philip beloved friend and member of the Labour Party
Some sad news for our party, edinburgh southern stalwart and former edinburgh high school Head teacher Henry Philip passes away on 14th April. Henry played a huge part in Edinburgh labour - not just being Treasurer of Edinburgh Southern and the driving force behind our Burns Supper , but in organising our leafletting, staffing the office during election campaigns , and keeping us right on the rules . Not to speak of being a great proof reader for our leaflets and always giving his supportive and positively critical thoughts !
We owe Henry a huge vote of thanks. For many years in his 80s and 90s he was still making a bigger active contribution than many half his age and his efforts and charm will be missed by many many people
Rest in Peace Henry .
Art and Culture, Future?
A thought provoking discussion and debate on Tuesday, with Calum Baird, on how the Party and labour movement should campaign for cultural democracy. How cultural workers and communities can organise in response to the growing crisis in the sector. Great ideas and action to take forward n the coming weeks and months.
Labours Lothian MSP ‘s Parliamentary Report 2022/23
Campaigning for Richard Parker in Corstorphine-Murrayfield Begins
Members from across Edinburgh have been out in force campaigning to make Richard Parker the 14th Labour councilor for Edinburgh.
We'll do great things for Edinburgh by working together in 2023- Cammy Day
Cammy Day, Leader of the Labour Group and Edinburgh City Council writes in the Evening News of the challenges facing the city in 2023 and the need to get cross party support to over come the obstacles Edinburgh faces in the coming year.
Foysol Choudhury Speaks Out Against Back Door Privitisation of the NHS by the Scottish Government
Foysol Choudhury Labour MSP for Lothian has written in the Scotsman today. He outlines the perils facing the Scottish NHS, as the SNP/Green Coalition continue to under fund healthcare in Scotland. Health chiefs in Scotland are said to be considering a two tier U.S. style system where some may have to pay for treatment.
A New Britain
The commission on the UK’s Future, led by Gordon Brown has published its report on renewing our democracy. The report outlines a number of proposals including directly elected mayors for Scottish Cities like Edinburgh. Legal protection for Scotland’s Parliament as part of a new directly elected second chamber called the Assembly of the Nations and Regions is also covered in the report. The proposed new assembly would replace the unelected House of Lords and would have oversight over Scottish, English, Welsh and Northern Irish devolution. The Labour Party will now consider these proposals as it drafts its manifesto for the next general election.
Fund Raising Dinner Held by Edinburgh Western CLP
Edinburgh Western Labour Party held a fundraising dinner at Edinburgh College, Telford Campus, with the speaker Sir Geoff Palmer in December.
Edinburgh Policy Forum
Members from across the city met in Tollcross on the 7th of November 2022 for the first Edinburgh Policy Forum. The Forum will meet each month and is open to all members. Following discussions those present decided to focus on transport and inter connectivity as their first area to explore policy.
Paul Sweeny MSP discussing Drugs Death Prevention (Scotland) Bill.
We were delighted to welcome Paul Sweeney MSP to Edinburgh Western Labour Party. He led a stimulating talk about his work on his Drugs Death Prevention (Scotland) Bill which he hopes to steer through the Scottish Parliament. The meeting was open to all members across the city and we were pleased to see members from Northern and Leith and Pentlands Labour parties. I think all present agreed that it was a very interesting discussion. Good luck Paul!
National Campaign Weekend
Labour members from across Edinburgh came together on the 29th of October 2022 to mark Labours National Campaign Weekend. Party Members, MSP’s and Councillors where all in attendance in Stockbridge to discuss with the public, what Labour is doing to hold the Scottish and UK Governments to account, over the cost-of-living crisis.
While other parties continue to focus on constitutional issues or internal party problems, The Labour Party has continued to focus on day-to-day matters affecting working people as the cost of living continues to skyrocket.
Andy Burnham in Edinburgh
Andy Burnham was in Edinburgh today on the 23rd of August for discussions with local Edinburgh Labour members and representatives on the ways that Northern English cities can connect with Scottish cities to form dialogues on key issues affecting the North of Great Britain.
Hopefully today will represent the beginning of a cross boarder dialogue between our great cities outside of the confines of Westminster or Holyrood.
Cllr Cammy Day introduces motion to condemn Russia
Councillor Cammy Day introduces a motion to condemn Russia’s ‘horrific and illegal attacks on Ukraine.’
The motion also commends the Ukrainian people for “the heroic defence of their land in fighting the illegal invasion.”
The motion would ban all Russian government-supported arts and cultural events in Edinburgh Council-owned venues and encourage others to do the same
The Council would agree to write to the Home office, in order to lobby for unrestricted refugee visas and to find suitable local host families to house refugees.
The Lord Provost has already written to the Mayor of Kyiv, expressing support for the resistance efforts by residents.
The Council would also agree to allocate up to £100,000 to help coordinate local efforts to gather humanitarian aid and facilitate donations.
Edinburgh Labour join the ‘Get Me Home Safely’ campaign
Edinburgh Labour is proud to join the ‘Get Me Home Safely’ campaign with Unite the Union to help women and night-time economy workers feel safer travelling home
Many night-time economy workers feel unsafe or struggle to get home after a late shift. 57% of women say they do not feel safe when using public transport. 84% of women say they do not feel safe waiting for a bus after dark.
This is unacceptable and this must change.
Edinburgh should be a city that all residents feel safe and comfortable in. Edinburgh Labour is pledging to ask businesses in the nighttime economy to offer safe means of getting home for their employees as part of the licensing process.
Women are forced to endure a barge of sexual violence and Edinburgh Labour is committed to ending this, once and for all.
Cllr Cammy Day on the War in Ukraine
The Edinburgh Labour Group deplore the Russian Federation’s illegal attack on Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.
The last five days of violence has seen at least 102 Ukrainian civilians killed, with a further 304 injured - but these figures are in fact, feared to be considerably higher. Russian forces should withdraw from Ukrainian territory and the United Kingdom and Scottish Governments must assure wider visa eligibility to all those fleeing areas of conflict.
This must include the free right of passage and suitable support to those who need it. Edinburgh Labour stands ready to welcome refugees to our city and offer every support we can.
Cllr Cammy Day and candidate for Leith Walk James Dalgleish at a solidarity march over the weekend
Excerpt from Cllr Joan Griffiths Lead Budget Speech
I am pleased to second what will be the Coalition’s final budget of the current political term. While it is the fifth budget we’ve presented to Council, it remains just as true as the first to our and what I also believe are the city’s, values, and priorities.
Following strong representations from COSLA, opposition political parties and wider society, I welcome the announcement of additional one-off resources for allocation of £9.6m. I am again very disappointed that the needs of our growing city, have not been appropriately recognised by the Scottish Government. There is no hiding the impact and short-sightedness that successive years’ cuts have had on key services within the city.
Despite the provision of additional one-off resources, this year’s core Settlement is the worst for many years and falls far short in addressing the funding requirements highlighted by COSLA, with the spectre of drastic cuts from 2023/24 also looming large over us.
While I welcome the relaxation of controls on setting Council Tax levels and the acknowledgement of councils’ autonomy and democratic accountability to their communities, this is no substitute for proper funding. We also need to keep pushing the case for Scotland’s cities to be treated on an equal footing, particularly in funding for homelessness services.
It, therefore, remains incumbent upon each and every one of us to make the case for fair and full funding for Edinburgh.
Within these limitations, our investment choices reflect our values. We have maintained our no compulsory redundancy policy and reiterated our presumption of Council services being delivered in-house whilst recognising the vital role of the community, voluntary and private sectors in the city’s recovery. Our budget also builds on the full consolidation of the Scottish Local Government Living Wage implemented in April 2021, recognising the vital work undertaken day in, day out by our lower-paid staff.
I am also pleased that we have been able to make further progress in taking forward the recommendations of the Poverty Commission by committing an extra £1.1m to easing the cost of living crisis for our most vulnerable citizens.
Labour’s council budget: We’ve got our priorities right
Despite over a decade of cuts from the SNP and continued austerity measures from the UK government while the Tories party, we’ll deliver a budget that protects frontline services, protects terms and conditions of council staff, while continuing to help Edinburgh residents most in need of our support.
We’ll push ahead with our commitment to alleviate poverty, doing all we can to support the least well-off in our city so they can have a fairer and more comfortable standard of living. With continued cuts to benefits, this remains a real challenge.
We’ll also continue to work with our partners to deliver our net-zero carbon emissions target of 2030 and are asking everyone in our city to play their part.
Labour Cllr Joan Griffiths launches new carer recovery plan
City of Edinburgh Council Carers Champion Cllr Joan Griffiths has welcomed VOCAL’s announcement of a Carer Recovery Fund - a monumental funding package in partnership with 12 Edinburgh charities - to improve carers’ wellbeing.
Cllr Joan Griffiths: “Being a carer is extremely rewarding but it can also be stressful and for many add pressure to finances. It can be a massive juggle simply to meet the everyday demands of work, study or home and make time for yourself when also caring for someone close to you.”
“This fund is fantastic news and I hope will provide crucial help to those who need it most. It is so important that carers are cared for too and are able to seek the help and support that they need.”
