Bold new commitments to local bus and energy companies feature in Labour’s manifesto for Stirling. The party’s key priorities were unveiled this week and include a promise to double to 1200 the number of hours of free pre-school childcare available to families, and realise the potential of £600 million in City Region Deal investment. The document will help shape Stirling over the next five years if Labour return to power on May 4th.
Violet Weir, one of two Labour candidates standing in the Bannockburn ward, told an audience of local party members and guests that the Labour-led Administration had much to be proud about since coming to power in 2012. Violet said,
“We have created over 400 council homes, built new schools at Cowie and St Ninians, and the £35 million Stirling Care Village is months away from opening. But we must go further and in the next five years we want to create more social rented homes that we have in the last five years. We will promote Stirling to employers around the world and we will realise the once in a generation potential of the £600 million City Region Deal that Labour Councillors are negotiating. We have a vision for Stirling and we will work tirelessly to deliver it in the face of continuing and unnecessary cuts to council budgets from the SNP Government at Holyrood.”
Chris Kane, one of two Labour candidates standing in Stirling East, spoke on the thinking behind the new approach to public transport and energy production. Chris said,
“It is unacceptable that fuel poverty exists and that Stirling’s citizens can’t rely on public transport to get them where they need to be when they need to be there. We want bus services run to community not commercial priorities. We want locally produced green energy with lower costs, fixed for longer periods. Stirling Council has the scale and the resources to kick start a local green energy revolution and sort out the buses and if Labour are in Administration in May, we’ll get to work and deliver for Stirling.”
The keynote speaker at the launch event was Scottish Labour Deputy Leader Alex Rowley MSP who said that Labour were the only party who offered a vision for Stirling’s future, backed up by a track record of success in the past.
To download a full copy of our manifesto, click here.
To read individual sections of our manifesto online, click on the links below:
- Introduction
- Jobs & the Economy
- Education & Young People
- Housing & Utilities
- Strengthening Communities
- Health & Social Care
In Stirling West Christine Simpson, who has represented this ward since 2012, will be standing for re-election. Christine has held the challenging portfolio for Social Care and Health, overseeing the process of the integration of Health Services in Forth Valley with Stirling Council’s social work services and the development of the Stirling Care Village.