Marion Fellows For Motherwell & Wishaw

good day!

2011-06-01T22:06:00.001Z

hello

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Marion

International Relations and other stuff

2008-10-12T10:37:00.004Z

Quiet Friday night in was the plan - dinner just started - then phone call from the eldest. Longish story cut quite short meant George and I found ourselves in Artisan in Wishaw (local restaurant - even managed to impress the eldest!) with a mother and daughter from North Dakota.

The Fellows tend not to do things the normal way so when the eldest joined BUNAC and signed up for Camp America at the very tender age of 18 (ok, so I am his mammy) he landed in North Dakota a state the majority of Americans used to have difficulty finding on the map.

Jennifer also worked at the Summer Camp and when she found herself at a conference in Kilmarnock (she works with "troubled adolescents" and teaches them to work with horses) she Googled and found him. After the standard visit to Edinburgh to see the castle the eldest was going to take them to Glasgow but a phone call to his mammy meant a swift detour to Wishaw.

We had a really interesting time and and having reflected on the evening I now know:-

In ND small remote communities are being heavily impacted by oil drilling.
Norma - Jennifer's mum and I share the same family values.
Most settlers in ND were originally German or Scandinavian - Jennifer's great-grandparents were Norwegian.
Meeting ancestral Norwegians the night before a very important football does NOT bring good luck.
Troubled adolescents is probably the best description I have heard of lots of young people in Motherwell and Wishaw and beyond. It describes honestly the state some of our young people in Scotland find themselves in. Huge numbers of them are troubled. In my day job I meet more and more young people who fit this description.

Wonder if any of this will chime with readers of this blog?

Busy not Blogging

2008-10-02T04:57:00.005Z

Ah the wonders of technology and hard work! The former is debatable and the benefits of the latter underestimated.

Speaking of hard work...... feeling withdrawal systems after a Glenrothes free weekend - I miss canvassing in Methilhill - it's almost surreal but when people identify themselves as Labour supporters it always comes out as an aplogy - I'm sorry but I vote Labour...... but the overwhelming message on the doorsteps I visited was - we've always voted for Labour but ............... not any more.

There are even more interesting moments in Motherwell and Wishaw. When you chap doors in this constituency you never know who you will meet. I recently met the engineer who built the blast furnaces at Ravenscraig, a women's libber and a returned ex-pat - all willing to talk about the SNP government and about the new feeling of can do in Scotland since May last year.

Lot's of kite flying around the subject of proposed by-election dates and candidates for M&W these days.................. if you read SNP Tactical Voting there may even be throwing things up flagpoles.

From here at the sharp end I can assure bloggers that no candidate has been selected. I've spoken to almost all local SNP members and I sincerely hope I will get their support when they chose a candidate for the forthcoming by-election.

Waterloo ............................

2008-08-10T21:06:00.000Z

Today we were carrying on the fight to try to save the local Post Office which is a lifeline for many of its older residents.I was made even more aware of how big a part the local Post Office plays in village communities when I was invited in by an 86 year old former Post Mistress. She proudly informed me that she has written a two page letter to the Post Office Consultation Team as she is incensed at the thought of her local office closing as she uses it to pay rent and utility bills and for getting cash - there is no ATM nearby.

Being invited in when canvassing is an interesting new experience for me and it is happening regularly. When I first started chapping on doors for the SNP in the constituency it was quite common to be invited to leave the doorstep as quickly as I liked!

This campaign is proving totally different from other campaigns in Motherwell and Wishaw - very encouraging canvassing/survey results and the pleasure of continually meeting former Labour supporters.

Canvassing and other weekend things

2008-08-08T08:54:00.004Z

Turned down an invitation to Edinburgh (visit festival, good food, great company) to go canvassing in Motherwell this weekend.

The Glasgow East result has provided everyone with extra stimulous and we are determined to take maximum advantage of this. Biggest team yet is expected to turn out on Sunday and the postive response on the doorstep buoys us all up.

We are getting slicker and more organised - George is turning into a great Campaign advisor - and he makes excellent coffee!

Now that the dust has settled...........

2008-08-07T05:39:00.002Z

Campaigning in Glasgow East was amazing. In the last week you knew you were witnessing something special. The post poll party was almost an anti-climax.

Labour must have been so relieved it was all over and the posponed Leadership election in Scotland could go ahead. So what's happened so far?Certainly not a leadership contest - more a free for all bout of glorious in-fighting and mud slinging.

#1- Jim Dempsey's letter about Andy Kerr and Monklands
#2 - Briefing against Cathie by Andy's supporters
#3 - Tom McCabe MSP's Sunday Herald article
#4 - John Robertson MP's response - "This sounds like Tom is looking to position himself for a job. I am disappointed in him. I thought he was much more of a comrade than that, but he obviously isn't."Very illuminating all round.

Closing thought - why when I see a politician with his children do I think of hamburgers?

"Motherwell is a pigsty, says Jack"

2007-04-29T05:00:00.000Z

More negative campaigning by Mr McConnell the local MSP in today's Sunday Herald.

If that's the present MSP for Motherwell & Wishaw's opinion of Motherwell - what on earth does he make of Wishaw?

He has finally trumped Frank Roy's well publicised faux pas in telling the Taoiseach not to visit Carfin. Frank survived making that smear on his constituency but will Jack?

The hardworking people of Motherwell & Wishaw deserve better.

It's time!

Jack's missing - again!

2007-04-28T22:15:00.000Z

Listened to the news on bbc this morning .....Party leaders are all in their constituencies for the last campaigning Saturday before the election..... All except the Motherwell and Wishaw MSP - he was campaigning anywhere but here in Motherwell and Wishaw - no sign of Labour on the ground at all.

Met Richard Leat the Anti-Trident candidate and his team and the very scary Scottish Christian Party were out in Wishaw and Motherwell.

Couldn't believe that our local MSP wasn't out on the stump but was elsewhere trying to shore up the Labour vote.

Talk about taking the electorate for granted.

It's definitely time for changes in Motherwell & Wishaw.

My how time flies when you are enjoying yourself

2007-04-28T22:10:00.000Z

Is it really over a week since my last blog? Can't quite believe it. Really busy, leafletting and today with High Visual Profile in Wishaw and Motherwell. So many people shaking my hand and repeating what is almost a mantra....voted Labour all my life but not this time ..... and huge proportion of them saying they will vote SNP. Thursday night is going to be very interesting........ Some very thoughtful people out there in the constituency - lots of first time helpers today - great day all round.

Wishaw Hustings

2007-04-19T22:44:00.000Z

Back from taking part in the Wishaw Churches together Hustings.

Not being a professional politician I was very nervous. All candidates were there for some of the time with the exception of the Tory candidate whose substitute didn't know why his candidate couldn't attend and John Swinburne who was at another hustings in East Kilbride.

Jack McConnell had to leave early for the leaders' debate on Radio Scotland. During the time he was there Jack still couldn't resist the Labour Party's Nat bashing tactics - and he needed 2 special advisors to help.

Not totally pleased with my own performance but....... no special advisors - just a determination to do my best and to raise the isues and to speak postively about the opportunities available to my town and my country.

Motherwell College

2007-04-09T20:28:00.000Z

Marion - what's your position on Motherwell College? Was the question from someone signing themselves Brain.

Is he referring to the move to the Ravenscraig site?

Is he asking a general question about the state of Motherwell College?

Do let me know - please.

At least if Motherwell is moving to Ravenscraig we can but hope that it will not be a PPP/PFI project. After all look what the buy out of West Lothian College cost.

Weekend Roundup

2007-04-09T09:09:00.000Z

Been reflecting on the weekend and trying to decide what was the highlight.

Was it talking to Winnie Ewing on Saturday? She asked me where I was standing and reminisced about the SNP's first election victory in Motherwell and Wishaw in 1945 by Dr McIntyre. It certainly was a proud moment for me - couldn't help but reflect on how my father would have felt had I been able to tell him.

Was it doing high visual work in Motherwell and Wishaw on Saturday? Could be - have done this before but now actively look forward to doing it. There is a real buzz in the streets just now - people keep coming up to us to tell us that they are sick of Labour locally. Most tell us that they are switching their vote to us. The Labour Party letter which went out in Wishaw this week helped as well!

Was it leafleting in Carfin on Sunday? Real buzz when people talk to you and say it's time we stood on our own two feet as a nation. Another said "just because my parents voted Labour doesn't mean I have to." In other parts of the country that would be a given in parts of Motherwell and Wishaw it's a giant leap forward.

Still can't make up my mind as to the hightlight but roll on the rest of the campaign.

People are listening to our message - they get it as well.

It's time.........for a better future for Motherwell and Wishaw.

Your Waterloo Mr McConnell?

2007-04-03T22:22:00.000Z

Seethed long enough about Jack McConnell's announcements about Town Centre Trusts and changing areas to encourage more sports participation.

I'm not sure exactly when Jack last walked down Wishaw Main Street or Motherwell Town Centre - perhaps we could get preferential treatment as both town centres are crying out for renovation. Trust Jack? Town Centre Trusts? He would have been laughed out of both towns had he tried to launch this here.

Could someone let him know that changing rooms in Waterloo ( yes it is in Motherwell and Wishaw constituency) were demolished just over a week ago.

You couldn't make it up - and I didn't.

Didn't something cataclysmic happen to another leader at Waterloo?

Positive and Inspiring

2007-04-03T22:17:00.000Z

This is what an Election Broadcast should be like!

STV Leader's Debate

2007-04-01T21:19:00.000Z

I thought Michael Crow had the patience of a saint tonight on the Leader's debate on STV.

Just how often did he have to ask Jack McConnell to move on as he floundered around trying to answer questions?

My suspicion is that Jack is finding it harder and harder to speak with His Masters' Voices on issues that he would normally agree with - a good example being the referendum issue .

When he tried to big himself up as in "talking to business people in New York" he forgot to mention that even his Chancellorship couldn't guarantee interest rates to anyone investing in Scotland - the Bank of England does that.

Thought Annabel Goldie kept plugging pluckily away with her one big idea on drugs and Nicol Stephen just did the amazing memory trick - remember when LibDems took the credit for the graduate endowment - now he wants rid of it. The Tories and LibDems are simply fighting it out for fourth place on 3 May.

Alex Salmond on the other hand answered the questions, made his points and didn't look under pressure or flustered at all.

I look forward to the next one.

A Gordon's NOT for me

2007-03-25T20:59:00.000Z

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when Gordon Brown announced that he was coming to Scotland to save the union. (SOS Today).

Gordon apparently has insisted that Jack McConnell was "the leader of the campaign". - presumably so that Jack can get the blame on May 4 when Labour get a hiding.

Gordon's probably just upset that Rooney didn't score a super-goal in Israel. Oh dear.

Labour running even more scared

2007-03-19T07:15:00.000Z

What about the good old Daily Record on Saturday - sorry for late posting but have been to the Science Centre for Campaign Conference - isn't oor Tone brilliant! Every time he opens his mouth -more votes for the SNP.

Loved this quote "Blair admitted that "of course" Scotland could be come independent. But he insisted Scotland was prospering within the stable UK economy and he praised First Minister Jack McConnell's ambitious programme to reach full employment and create the best education system in the world over the next decade." from the Record.

The real question is, of course, what have Labour been doing in Scotland for the last 2 terms of the Scottish Parliament?

2007-03-17T07:44:00.000Z

Blair Does Comic Relief

2007-03-17T07:33:00.000Z

Was Tony Blair rehearsing for his spot on Comic Relief when he described Sir George Mathewson's letter to yesterday's Scotsman as "absurd" and "self-indulgent"?

Apparently Jack wasn't worth quoting until "later" when he said "the industry (North Sea Oil) was "absolutely vital" to Scotland."" No brainer really.

But that well known labour source (dont ya just love him/her?) said "This is Jack McConnell's campaign. He is running it," After being asked about Labour's inability to seize the initiative against the SNP. "

Doesn't Labour realise that this negative campaigning isn't working?

Tony Bliar keep it coming - I don't and, more importantl, the Scottish people don't trust or believe anything you say any more.

Bishop Devine merely confirming what people in Motherwell and Wishaw are telling us.

2007-03-12T09:56:00.001Z

Bishop Devine's comments from a BBC Radio interview yesterday and reported in the Scotsman today reflect what we have been discovering on the streets of Motherwell and Wishaw.

Talking to people out and about it is really apparent that to quote that infamous Labour Source-

"They don't know Jack and they don't like Labour."

Labour's stranglehold on their Scottish heartland is definitely weakening mainly due to their arrogance and the divisisions now blatently apparent between Old and New Labour over issues such as Trident, PFI and local Healthcare. Labour no longer meets the aspirations of people in Motherwell and Wishaw.

CATHY'S BLAST OF NEGATIVITY

2007-03-04T14:42:00.000Z

I used to think that the unflattering portrayal of Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson on Watson's Windup was unfair. After watching her display on the Politics Show on BBC 1 Scotland this afternoon I changed my mind.

Glenn Campbell totally lost control of the so called "debate" between Deputy Leaders. He allowed Cathy to rant on so much, let her avoid completely the questions asked, that it was a travesty of television journalism.

Fair's fair I suppose he did look very uncomfortable most of the time.

Labour's "new " negative campaigning is alive and well on TV in Scotland. Well it was trailed yesterday by our First Minister and to quote a Labour source:(Scotland On Sunday 4 March 2007)

"There is nothing that Labour can say that will change peoples' minds about Labour. There is no point in having a positive campaign because it doesn't wash. There isn't a bit of evidence to suggest that going positive will make any difference. THEY DON'T KNOW JACK AND THEY DON'T LIKE LABOUR."

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=341082007

Cash for Honours?

2007-03-02T22:36:00.001Z

So the Attorney General has an injunction against the BBC. No doubt truth will out - eventually.

Jack on GMS

2007-03-02T20:11:00.000Z

Listened to Jack on the radio this morning - pretty awful performance. Wit and ability are hardly epithets associated with Mr McConnell's Executive but they were the buzz words of the piece. Surely it shouldn't be beyond the wit and ability of the Labour party to respond to "cuts in free school meals in the 80s by the Conservatives" before 2007?

Funding OnePlus nurseries when they were forced out of business could have helped children and parents in poverty to help themselves. Wasn't part of the Executive agenda though.

Jack's Missing

2007-02-23T19:31:00.000Z

I think the poster says it all........

Lib-Dems - Say one thing Mean another

2007-02-18T19:43:00.000Z

Nicol Stephen had barely finished his keynote speech extolling Lib-Dems new non-negative agenda when the Lib-Dem MSP Jamie Stone - lambasted the SNP calling them xenophobic. No wonder Alex Salmon is calling for an immediate apology from Nicol Stephens on behalf of the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

If this is the level of debate and "negative free" campaigning we can expect from both parts of the Lab-Lib coalition then the SNP will be alone in running a campaign on the issues affecting Scotland and all her people - no matter where they originally come from.

It's time to keep Healthcare Local!

2007-02-13T22:52:00.000Z

As a PFI hospital Wishaw General was built to cope with a pre-determined number of A & E admissions and it's already operating at 120% over capacity - Lanarkshire Health Board's own figures back this up.

Waiting times are already unacceptable and Wishaw General has closed to new admissions when it already cannot cope with demand.

Lanarkshire Health Board is carrying the cost of two PFI hospitals, Wishaw General and Hairmyres, money spent on repaying PFI costs is money which cannot be spent on front line patient care.

SNP has committed to reversing the decision to close Monklands A&E and will keep all three A & E departments open.

Let Lanarkshire Flourish

2007-02-13T22:27:00.000Z

Jim Mather and Alex Neil launched “Let Lanarkshire Flourish” on Monday 12 February, 2007. This paper outlines the SNP’s plans in government to deliver a more competitive Lanarkshire, ensuring that the interests of the people and businesses of Lanarkshire are put first. SNP priorities for Lanarkshire.

Make Scotland and Lanarkshire more competitive by growing the economy sustainably at 4% per annum – the same rate as the small successful EU nations.

Increase our population over the next 10 years. We want to give young Scots more opportunities at home, encourage ex-pat Scots to return and attract new Scots with the talent and energy to flourish in Scotland.

Reverse the decision to close Monklands A & E department and keeping all three A & E departments in Lanarkshire open.

Introduce the Small Business Bonus thus ensuring a better deal for small and medium enterprises by abolishing business rates for 10,000 businesses and significantly reducing the rates bills 2,500 businesses in Lanarkshire.

A new Raith Interchange, where the A725 crosses the M74 will be a high priority for a new administration at Holyrood. This will provide major economic benefits to road users.

Lower corporation tax to 20% to create the conditions that will attract headquarters operations to Lanarkshire, and lead to an increase in overall tax revenues for Scotland as countries such as Ireland, Sweden and Finland have done.

Burns Night Adoption Meeting

2007-02-13T22:07:00.000Z

I wanted my Adoption Meeting to be a successful, memorable evening - and it was. The whole idea was hatched on a car trip to National Council Meeting in Perth when it was decided to have the Burns Supper at my place. (NOT a mansion - but a great party house.)

I peeled all the tatties (apart from a few) and all the neeps myself - horrible job which I didn't want to delegate although at this point I am wondering why. The haggis was great and the "Dinner Ladies Extraordinaire" did a fantastic job dishing up the dinner.

George - hereinafter referred to as the "Candidate's Husband! (CH) had to visit the Minor Injuries Clinic at Wishaw General in the middle of the Supper (does Jack have this problem with Bridget?) but he was fine and thankfully the evening was not spoiled – would he have dared?

Haggis was piped in - songs were beautifully sung and much music was played. The Immortal Memory was wonderful, the Toast to the Lasses and Reply from the Lasses were both wittily done and after the Toast to the Nation (me at my least prepared – see earlier reference to CH) the fundraising began!

Thanks to all who donated, cajoled, bought and re-entered the raffle prizes – what a great bunch of supporters.