Campaigns

Yet more DWP cuts for Glasgow

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SNP MP Alison Thewliss has hit out at yet more plans by the DWP to shut down Government offices in her constituency. Her comments come in response to news today that Tory Ministers plan to shut fifteen more Jobcentres and back offices in Scotland, including Portcullis House and Corunna House in her Glasgow Central constituency.

Currently, the UK Government is already consulting on plans to close eight of Glasgow’s Jobcentres, including Bridgeton Jobcentre within Ms Thewliss’ constituency.

Alison Thewliss MP said:

“Last month this Tory Government delivered a body blow to communities all across our city by proposing to shut half of Glasgow’s Jobcentres. That consultation is still running and the fight to save those Jobcentres is still ongoing.

“Now we learn that UK Ministers are planning to scrap even more of the DWP estate in Glasgow by shutting down Government back offices. This comes on the back of recent HMRC cuts in Scotland, which we were told wouldn’t happen if Scotland rejected independence in 2014. That was obviously a blatant lie.

“These erratic Tory plans raise a number of very serious questions for Glasgow. Where are the jobs are being transferred to? What consultation has been carried out with staff? How does this fit into the current proposals to shut half of Glasgow’s Jobcentres? UK Government Ministers have been at great pains to stress the Jobcentre closures are only proposals, but how can Glaswegians trust them with these new cuts coming like a bolt from the blue?

“I am demanding an urgent meeting with DWP Ministers to get answers on these incredibly serious questions. This Tory Government’s slash and burn approach to civil service jobs and buildings needs to stop right now.”

MP urges Glasgow to join the Smear for Smear campaign

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Alison Thewliss, SNP MP for Glasgow Central, has today issued a rallying call for women across Glasgow to take part in the #smearforsmear campaign during cervical cancer awareness week.

The #smearforsmear campaign, organised by Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, seeks to raise awareness of the importance of attending screening tests for cervical cancer. The campaign encourages women to take selfies of themselves with smeared lipstick and nominating another person to do the same.

Commenting on the campaign, Alison Thewliss MP said:

“I am delighted to give my support to this excellent campaign by Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust to raise awareness of the importance of cervical cancer screening. Cervical cancer is the most common cancer for women under 35, but the good news is attending for a smear test can reduce the risk.

“Despite considerable improvements in the technology available to detect cervical cancer, not enough women are taking up the offer of screening. According to figures published by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, around one third of women aged 20-60 in Glasgow have not taken up the offer of cervical cancer screening within the last 5 years. There is clearly more work to be done to improve screening rates and I therefore welcome the efforts made by Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust to highlight this important issue during Cervical Cancer Awareness Week.

“It’s really important that cervical cancer is detected as early as possible; attending that appointment could save your life. I encourage women across my constituency and across Glasgow to make an appointment with their GP today to take the smear test.”

Alison Thewliss MP signs Holocaust Educational Trust Book of Commitment

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This week Alison Thewliss MP signed the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Book of Commitment, in doing so pledging her commitment to Holocaust Memorial Day and honouring those who were murdered during the Holocaust as well as paying tribute to the extraordinary Holocaust survivors who work tirelessly to educate young people.

Friday 27th January will mark the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration and death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, the site of the largest mass murder in history.

In the lead up to and on Holocaust Memorial Day, thousands of commemorative events will be arranged by schools, faith groups and community organisations across the country, remembering all the victims of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides. The theme for this year’s commemorations is ‘How can life go on?’

After signing the Book of Commitment, Alison Thewliss MP commented:

“Holocaust Memorial Day is an important opportunity for people from Glasgow and across the country to reflect on the tragic events of the Holocaust. As the Holocaust moves from living history, to just history, it becomes ever more important that we take the time to remember the victims and also pay tribute to the survivors. I would encourage my constituents to show their support for such an important day.”

Karen Pollock MBE, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said:

“Our mission is to educate young people from every background about the Holocaust and its contemporary relevance. We are very grateful to Alison Thewliss MP for signing the Book of Commitment, signalling a continued commitment to remembering the victims of the Holocaust as well as challenging anti-semitism, prejudice and bigotry in all its forms.”

Action to end pregnancy and maternity discrimination

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Alison Thewliss MP has called for an end to pregnancy discrimination in the workplace, backing a campaign led by the charity Maternity Action.

This week Maternity Action released three videos to empower pregnant women to address pregnancy discrimination in the workplace.  Pregnancy discrimination has risen dramatically in the past decade and now affects three quarters of pregnant women and new mothers at work. Research by the Equality and Human Rights Commission has found that 20,000 women each year leave their jobs because of health and safety concerns and 53,000 are discouraged from attending antenatal appointments.  A total of 54,000 each year are forced out of work because of unfair and unlawful treatment because of their pregnancy.

Ms Thewliss hosted an event in Westminster on Tuesday 17th January to coincide with the launch of the three videos and took part in a panel discussion with Sarah Champion, Labour MP and Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities, Maria Miller, Conservative MP and Chair of the Women and Equalities Select Committee, Ros Bragg, Chair of Maternity Action, and representatives of the trade union Usdaw.

Commenting on the launch of the campaign, Alison Thewliss MP said:

“I am delighted to host Maternity Action in Westminster and promote the three new videos to support pregnant women who encounter problems at work.  The videos help women to raise concerns with their employer and resolve issues as early as possible and I hope they will become an important resource to support pregnant women in the workplace.

“It is essential that pregnant women and new mothers have a safe working environment and it is worrying that so many women are encountering problems at work. The EHRC’s research should be a wake-up to politicians from all parties that urgent action is required to tackle pregnancy discrimination and I was delighted to be joined by prominent MPs from Labour and the Conservatives who attended the Maternity Action event in Westminster and pledged their support to the campaign.

“The SNP-led Scottish Government are already taking action to tackle pregnancy discrimination in workplaces in Scotland and we now need a cross-Government strategy to bring an end to pregnancy discrimination across the UK.  There is much more that can be done to deter rogue employers and better protect working women when they are at their most vulnerable.”

Partial victory as Government issues new guidance on asylum volunteers

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Alison Thewliss, SNP MP for Glasgow Central, has welcomed changes in Home Office guidance, which has been issued to asylum decision makers just days after she raised complaints about “fundamentally flawed” rules surrounding asylum seekers volunteering and working.

Just two days after raising the case of her constituent Olivier Mondeke Monongo – a Christian Pastor from the Democratic Republic of Congo – the Home Office quietly issued new guidance to its decision makers, making explicitly clear that “it is Home Office policy to support asylum seekers volunteering for charities or public sector organisations”.

The Christian Pastor and his family were granted refugee status in the UK several years ago but he was later denied British citizenship because he had volunteered for the British Red Cross as an interpreter during his claim for asylum. At the time, doing such volunteering was considered in breach of his asylum application conditions and a sign of ‘bad character’. Monongo, who is also a mental health nurse for the NHS, cannot now re-apply for British citizenship until 2020.

In light of the guidance which has just been issued, Ms Thewliss is now asking for Ministerial discretion to be used to allow Olivier and his family to apply for British citizenship immediately.

Commenting, the Glasgow Central MP said:

“This new guidance makes much clearer that volunteering should not be regarded as a sign of bad character and indeed encouraged. This will be of great comfort to individuals and to the organisations who value the contribution volunteers make.

“The previous rules were fundamentally flawed and led to an honest and upstanding member of the community being denied British citizenship, simply because he volunteered for the British Red Cross. That is absolutely ridiculous.

“I’m glad that my debate in Westminster Hall last week highlighted the folly of this policy; I’m very glad to see revised policy being issued to Home Office decision makers. However, I went into Westminster Hall last week with two asks – one was to make sure people can’t be penalised for volunteering and the other was to lift the ban on asylum seekers working. Although I’m pleased that there has been progress on the first issue, I am still going to pursue the wider issue of allowing asylum seekers to take up paid employment, which we know would save the Government tens of millions of pounds.

“As for my constituent Olivier, I am today writing to the Home Secretary Amber Rudd and asking her to personally intervene and set in motion the process of allowing Olivier and his family to apply for citizenship – not in 2020 but now.”

Glasgow MP in ship plea to Governor of Hawaii

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A Glasgow MP has issued a plea to the Governor of Hawaii, asking him not to sink a Clyde-built ship which is the last of its kind in the world.

SNP MP Alison Thewliss has written to the US Governor, David Ige, pleading that authorities in Honolulu don’t sink or destroy the Falls of Clyde ship, as is currently intended.

The Glasgow Central politician is campaigning alongside the City of Glasgow College and a local history group to have the ship, which was built in 1878, repatriated to the River Clyde and used as a community run sail training venture.

The Glasgow Central MP said:

“Given its rich history, it would be nothing short of historical and cultural vandalism to sink or destroy Falls of the Clyde. The ship is thought to be the last four-masted iron-hulled sailing vessel of its kind anywhere in the world.

“This Clyde built ship was launched in 1878 and has visited every continent of the world save Antarctica.

“There is growing interest in repatriating the boat to Scotland from organisations like Old Gorbals Heritage Group, the City of Glasgow College’s Riverside campus and many others in Scotland and around the world.

“The River Clyde is full of potential and it would be absolutely amazing to bring the ship home and perhaps run it as a sail training venture. Returning this ship to the Clyde after 130 years would also swell public interest in the already popular attractions of the Riverside Museum and the Tall Ship.

“We must find every way possible to bring this ship home.”

MP to take Iranian visas fight to Home Office

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SNP MP Alison Thewliss will today (Tuesday) meet with the Immigration Minister, Robert Goodwill MP, at the Home Office to challenge the Government’s “bizarre” decision to dramatically restrict the number of UK visitor visas being issued to Iranians.

As the MP with the highest immigration constituency caseload in Scotland, the Glasgow Central MP has dealt with a number of cases for constituents who have found it immensely challenging to secure UK visitor visas.

One such case includes the Grandmother of a baby born in November 2016. The parents of the baby, who are Iranian nationals living in Glasgow, had wanted the child’s Iranian Grandmother to be able to visit at the time of the birth. The Grandmother, who lives in Tehran, started trying to apply for her visa in May 2016 – almost half a year before the baby was due. She has still not been granted an opportunity to apply for a visa, despite her new grandchild now being three months old.

In a letter to MP Alison Thewliss, the Home Office advised that the Grandmother might instead wish to apply in person for a visa from VFS Global’s Abu Dhabi processing centre – a journey which would require her to cross the Persian Gulf. Another case Ms Thewliss is dealing with means that a married couple are currently being kept apart. The husband remains in Glasgow, with his wife stuck in Iran, unable to apply to come to the UK.

Just 30 visa application slots – administered by the UK Government’s private contractor, VFS Global – are issued once a week, every Tuesday at 1pm. They are issued on a first come, first served basis. The application slots do not guarantee a visa but merely the opportunity to apply for one. Thewliss has branded this “an immigration system which appears to be run like a tombola”. The Glasgow Central MP recently secured a meeting with the UK Immigration Minister, Robert Goodwill and will press these cases today.

Speaking ahead of the meeting at the Home Office in London, Alison Thewliss MP said:

“Because of a bizarre policy put in place by the Home Office, I have families in my constituency who are being kept apart due to an immigration system which appears to be run like a tombola.

“From my own constituency casework, it is clear that this approach to administering visas is simply not fit for purpose.

“Amongst the draconian restrictions, quotas and red tape put in place by the Home Office’s private contractor, I am seeing honest and well-intentioned people being stonewalled from even being able to apply for visas, let alone visit their family.

“During last summer, Downing Street issued a woolly press statement talking up the Government’s desire to forge greater links and cooperation with Iran. This press statement followed a telephone call between the new Prime Minister, Theresa May and the Iranian President, Dr Hassan Rouhani. One of the ironies in all of this is that the Iranian President is himself a former student of Glasgow Caledonian University, where he completed a postgraduate qualification in the city in the 1990s.

“If the UK Government is serious about improving relations and cooperation with Iran, it could start by urgently reviewing and reforming this bizarre system of issuing visa application appointments based on luck of the draw.“

Government still failing miserably to enforce minimum wage

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Alison Thewliss MP sitting at her desk in Parliament

SNP MP, Alison Thewliss, has hit out at new data which suggests that the Government is failing miserably to get a grip on tackling low and exploitative pay.

Commenting following the publication of answers to a series of written parliamentary questions she tabled, the Glasgow MP said Prime Minister Theresa May’s apparent desire to tackle the “burning injustices” in society, as well as efforts to support the “just about managing”, was nothing more than empty rhetoric.

Seizing on data released to her by Treasury and Cabinet Office Ministers, Ms Thewliss said this wasn’t the first time she had raised the issue, having requested similar data from Government officials last year. Following that, she wrote a scathing letter to the former Prime Minister David Cameron, urging him to make tackling low pay a priority.

Commenting, Glasgow Central SNP MP Alison Thewliss said:

“Last summer might have seen a change of occupant in 10 Downing Street but it appears to be business as usual for this Tory Government; they appear to have no interest whatsoever in tackling pay inequality and exploitation. Theresa May’s impassioned speech on the steps of Downing Street has been exposed again and again as empty rhetoric.

“Disappointingly, when I obtained last year’s data from the Government, over 100,000 Scots were still being paid below the national minimum wage. This is in stark contrast to the Scottish Government, and huge swathes of Scotland’s public services, who pay the real living wage of £8.45 per hour.

“House of Commons Library figures reveal that for 2015-16 alone 950 employers have been found by HMRC not to be paying the minimum wage. Over the past decade only 13 prosecutions have taken place for non-compliance, which simply beggars belief.

“These shocking figures also show that the Government is doing very little to crack down on employers who aren’t complying with National Minimum Wage legislation passed almost two decades ago. Indeed, the Minister’s response reveals the Government don’t think it’s worth prosecuting companies for non-compliance. This sends an incredibly worrying signal to exploitative employers who will think it is perfectly acceptable to pay peanuts for a fair day’s work.

“If Theresa May is truly serious about supporting the “just about managing” in society, she needs to implement an urgent action plan.

“The Prime Minister should start by cracking down heavily on exploitative employers who are flouting minimum wage laws. Companies won’t take this matter seriously if all they can expect is a rap on the knuckles.

“Theresa May should implement a real living wage, as set by the Living Wage Foundation, rather than the pale imitation being punted by her Chancellor. The real Living Wage is being successfully promoted by the Scottish Government, with Scottish Canals being announced just this week as the 700th employer in Scotland to sign up.

“Thirdly, and as part of an action plan, we need to have genuine pay equality – not just for women but for young people as well. Currently, the UK Government has a ridiculous system whereby minimum wage rates are set in accordance with age. That means if you’re a sixteen year old apprentice, the law says you can be paid as little as £3.40 per hour. How does that fit into the Prime Minister’s new obsession about a shared society?

“I’ve written to the Prime Minister setting out three very simple and practical steps she could take to tackle this – I hope sincerely I won’t be sending the same action plan next year when I request these figures from the Government again”.

JobCentres: Thewliss brands DWP plans clueless

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Bridgeton MP, Alison Thewliss, has branded the Department of Work & Pensions as being utterly clueless about its own plans to butcher half of Glasgow’s job centres.

Her remarks follow the publication of a series of parliamentary questions in which the Government admits it can’t provide data on the number of people attending Bridgeton JobCentre Plus and which benefits they receive.

Furthermore, despite ‘arrogant plans’ to close swathes of the city’s job centre network, it transpires that no UK Government Minister has ever even bothered to visit Bridgeton, which is earmarked for closure.

Glasgow Central MP Alison Thewliss said:

“Plans to shut Bridgeton Jobcentre along with the other job centres in Glasgow are totally ill thought out. This plan should be dropped immediately.

“What these parliamentary answers show is that Ministers are totally clueless on their own plans. They don’t appear to know how many claimants receive which benefit, therefore it begs the question – what rationale is there for removing this lifeline service?

“Even more insulting is that Ministers devised the plan from their ivory towers in Whitehall to axe our local job centres without even bothering to visit.

“Bridgeton and the wider area is not without its challenges. We already have a great network of local organisations and services to support people including Clyde Gateway, Citizens Advice Bureau, the Credit Union, Post Office, Olympia and Glasgow Women’s Library. Bridgeton job centre is a significant piece in this jigsaw.

“Axing Bridgeton Jobcentre would be a serious blow to local people who would be expected to take numerous buses or walk for almost an hour to their next available Jobcentre.

“Of course, had the UK Government Ministers bothered to do their homework, they’d have known this. Now they do – and now they should halt these plans without delay.”

SNP Councillor for Calton ward, Greg Hepburn, added:

“The closure of this Job Centre is a damaging decision that will have a huge impact on the lives of many people in the east end. Expecting local claimants to walk for up to an hour, take an expensive and unreliable bus or to own a car is at best careless and at worst negligent.”