News Update

Cathcart MSP In Fresh call for Automatic Jail Sentences for Knife Crime - 15th July 2008

Glasgow Cathcart MSP, Charlie Gordon, who tried to amend Scots Law in 2006 to bring in automatic jail sentences for knife possession has renewed his call for such a measure and has endorsed a public petition lodged with the Scottish Parliament recently on the issue.

In May 2006, Charlie moved an amendment in the Scottish Parliament to the Police, Public Order and Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act. Mr Gordon's amendment, similarly worded to UK legislation which specifies mandatory jail sentences for those convicted of possessing guns,

would have meant mandatory jail sentences for knife possession, in the absence of a reasonable excuse acceptable to a trial Judge, but was forced to withdraw his amendment as it received no support from other MSPs.

Mr Gordon had first called for such a measure in an interview with the "Evening Times" newspaper in 2004, in his then capacity as Leader of Glasgow City Council.

The petition lodged with the Scottish Parliament by the family of a knife murder victim Damian Muir, has already been signed by thousands of Scots and now Charlie Gordon MSP is urging his constituents to sign it. You can sign the petition by clicking here.

"This is an idea who's time has come" said Charlie Gordon "MSPs should not ignore the views of ordinary Scots on this life or death issue" he said.

Castlemilk High School is Excellent - 20th June 2008

Charlie Gordon MSP and Head Teacher Brian McAlinden

Charlie Gordon MSP hailed news that Castlemilk High School received six "excellent" ratings in a recent report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education (HMIE).

The rating is the highest achieved in Glasgow and the second highest ever achieved,

Charlie said "The conclusions of the HMIE report are the culmination of the joint efforts of Head Teacher Brian McAlinden, the Teaching Staff and hard working pupils who make Castlemilk proud. I am confident Castlemilk High will go from success to success."

Charlie lodged a Parliamentary Motion to highlight this achievement which you can read by clicking here.

A copy of the HMIE report can be found here.

Holyrood Secondary Reaches Out to Malawi - 20th June 2008

Holyrood Staff and Pupils

Charlie Gordon MSP wished Holyrood Secondary Pupils good luck as they embark on a trip to the small African nation of Malawi. 

The 23 pupils are heading there to help build new classrooms and have raised an incredible £71,000 for the venture by various methods including a fashion show and a gala ball.

Holyrood Secondary serves many pupils from the Glasgow Cathcart constituency and is the largest School in Scotland.

Charlie also supported a motion lodged by Frank McAveety MSP which you can read here.

VERY SPECIAL DAY; VERY SPECIAL PLACE ; ”VERY SPECIAL MAN” - 13th June 2008

                                      By Charlie Gordon MSP

Education Convener Gordon Mathieson, Charlie Gordon MSP and The Reverend John Miller

Friday the 13th is supposed to be unlucky but on Friday 13th June 2008, I spent one of the most uplifting afternoons I can ever remember.

The place?  Miller Primary School, a merger of Windlaw and Tormusk Primary Schools which shares a joint campus with Castlemilk Family Centre.

I arrived to be greeted by Miller’s Head Teacher, Mrs Dalzel, and rubbed shoulders with, among others, Education Convener Gordon Matheson, Education Director Margaret Doran and City Building Director Willie Docherty, whose workers built the excellent new facilities.

Then, in a packed assembly hall, guests were given a wonderful feast of entertainment by the School and the Family Centre’s multi-talented pupils.

There were songs aplenty, ranging from Miller Primary’s very own funky anthem, through Castlemilk’s Jeely Piece song to the Family Centre children’s renditions of those much loved nursery classics, Ally Bally Bee and Ye Canny Shove Yer Granny Aff A Bus.

There was also some excellent Scottish Country dancing and a gallus and witty short play; all linked together with seamless announcements by pupils speaking without notes ….. a politician’s nightmare!

Education Convener Gordon Matheson’s job was to unveil the plaque naming the new school, but before he did, he asked the audience why local people had decided to name it after John Miller, who had been a local Minister and School Chaplain in Castlemilk for over 30 years.

One adult answered: “Because he gave so much to Castlemilk and we wanted to give him something back” and a child said: “Because he is a very special man”.  How true! 

John’s commitment and service to the people of Castlemilk over the decades wasn’t just a long pastoral tenure – he became part of its very fabric and a key agent in its regeneration.

Even when he became Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, John remained based in his Castlemilk council house; not to score a point but because that is just the way John is; he is someone who crosses barriers between people; all barriers; between all people.

When he arrived before the opening ceremony, I was pleased to shake his hand to welcome him home.  I remarked on how thin he was; “Where I live now, people don’t have much to eat”.  He said, matter of factly.

“Where I live now” is Zimbabwe; John and his wife Mary, herself a force of nature who headed Castlemilk’s suberb Jeely Piece Centre for many years, now work at the
Murambinda Mission Hospital

Later on, after Gordon Matheson had unveiled the plaque, the Head Teacher graciously gave the stage to John.

He pooh-poohed the standing ovation and gestured us all to sit.

He said he couldn’t adequately express his thanks for naming the school after him and then took us on a trip down memory lane of his Castlemilk days; of cycling round the scheme with stray dogs snapping at his heels and of visits to schools where he would tell the children a wee story and a big story.  Happy laughs of recollection could be heard around the room from pupils and parents alike.

The marvellous children of Miller Primary presented him onstage with a cheque for £150 for the Hospital.

John then stunned us all by saying that he, in turn, had brought a gift of money to the school from Zimbabwe.

He took a note for the stupendous sum of 25 Billion Zimbabwean Dollars and donated it to the school.  He explained that in Zimbabwe, you couldn’t buy a load of bread with this sum at present so the note would remind pupils that we live in an ill-divided world.

So simply, yet so brilliantly, did John Miller make his point.  Not a political point per se, but a very challenging one, for John’s enemy is poverty, both of the body and of the spirit.

As I walked from Miller Primary to my surgery at Castlemilk Library, I pondered ; I’m not a religious person but all of my adult life I’ve sought a society in which every person is given the means to develop to their full potential.

I felt refreshed and heartened by the shining talent and outstanding potential of those wonderful Miller children.  I don’t want anything to stand in their way.  As they develop and grow, I hope they always remember John Miller; maybe for what he says but certainly for what he is; a man with the courage to practice what he preaches.

Me?  I would settle for reaching as high as John Miller’s bootlaces.

"Bus Industry Not Responsive Enough to Users' Concerns" Says Gordon - 12th June 2008

Glasgow Cathcart MSP, Charlie Gordon has stated that the bus industry is not responsive enough to passengers' concerns about fares, timetables, ticketing, vehicle quality, congestion, and pollution among other matters.

Summing up a debate in the Scottish Parliament on bus travel on 12th June 2008, Charlie argued that the 2001 Transport (Scotland) Act, which provided for greater regulation of the bus industry in certain circumstances, had never been fully utilised, but that voluntary regulation was patchy, at best.

For the full text of Charlie's speech click here.

Gordon Urges Public to Support "Fare Treatment For All" Petition - 6th June 2008

Glasgow Cathcart MSP, Charlie Gordon, today urged his constituents to sign the petition that has been launched by Learning Disability Alliance Scotland (LDAS), callign on the Scottish Government to extend the National Concessionary Travel Scheme to include everyone who receives the lower rates of the Disability Living Allowance.  Charlie also supported the Motion lodged by Dumbarton MSP, Jackie Baillie on the issue which you can read by clicking here.

Scotland-Wide Free Bus Travel for older and disabled people commenced on 1 April 2006. Prior to this date each local authority was responsible for all aspects of its own local concessionary travel scheme which meant that eligibility criteria varied over schemes, particularly in respect of disability. Following an extensive Scotland-wide public consultation exercise, the national scheme eligibility criteria was standardised.

In order to allow for a smooth transition from the local concessionary scheme to the national scheme, disabled people were not immediately reassessed under the new criteria and were allowed to continue with free bus travel for a period of time. However, in 2007 as the transitional timescale expired and people were assessed under the new national criteria and many people lost out. 

Charlie fully supports the the LDAS campaign and urges his constiunets to sign their petition.  You can sign the petition online by clicking here.

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