Press release: Labour MPs unite to call for High Speed Rail in Scotland

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Sheila Gilmore

Lothians MPs Sheila Gilmore, Mark Lazarowicz and Graeme Morrice speak in Commons debate on High Speed Two in Scotland
Reductions in journey times from 2026 welcomed
Economic and environmental benefits emphasised
Concern expressed over project if Scotland separates from rest of UK

Lothians MPs Sheila Gilmore, Mark Lazarowicz and Graeme Morrice have come together to call for the proposed High Speed Rail network to be extended to Scotland.

Speaking in a House of Commons debate on Wednesday the MPs highlighted that the extra capacity and shorter journey times would stimulate economic growth and reduce carbon emissions by encouraging people to switch from plane to train.

Under the Government’s current plans an initial line from London to the West Midlands will be up and running by 2026. This will be extended to Leeds and Manchester by 2033/34. Trains will travel at speeds of up to 225mph.

Speaking after the debate Sheila Gilmore said:

I welcome the Coalition’s decision to press ahead with the previous Labour government’s plans for high speed rail.

Passengers in Scotland will benefit immediately as the high speed network will be linked to existing lines, meaning trains will continue up to Edinburgh and Glasgow at conventional speeds. Once the second phase is complete, the Edinburgh to London journey will be cut by an hour to 3 hours 30 minutes.

Mark Lazarowicz called on the Government to extend the planned lines to Leeds and Manchester to Edinburgh and Glasgow:

To realise the full benefits of high speed rail, the second phase should not end at Leeds and Manchester, but continue on to Edinburgh and Glasgow. This would cut the journey to London to between two and three hours, allowing Scotland to take advantage of the economic strength of the South East.

High speed rail would also realise environmental benefits. If you account for travelling to and from airports and checking in, flying between Scotland and London takes 3 hours 40 minutes. If journeys were brought down to 3 hours or less people would switch from planes to trains. Given that aviation produces high rates of carbon emissions per passenger mile, high speed rail could play an important role in tackling climate change.

Graeme Morrice expressed concern over whether the project would be built if Scotland were to separate from the rest of the UK:

As a United Kingdom, we have the critical mass to deliver this project and ensure it reaches into Scotland to Edinburgh and Glasgow.

However I fear that if Scotland separated from the rest of the UK, the new line wouldn’t make it past the north of England.

While a future Scottish Government could build lines from Edinburgh and Glasgow to the border, the Westminster Government would have no incentive to shell out for the lines north of Leeds and Manchester.

Only by remaining a United Kingdom and working together can we guarantee that Scotland will benefit from high speed rail.

Press release: Young people in Edinburgh need action on jobs

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Sheila Gilmore

Commenting on today’s unemployment statistics, Edinburgh East MP and Work and Pensions Select Committee member Sheila Gilmore said:

Young people in Edinburgh are tired of excuses, they need action on jobs, now.

The number of young people out of work for a year in Edinburgh is up 300% in the last year, yet complacent ministers refuse to take the decisive action they need to get young people off benefits and into work.

Here in Edinburgh 300 young people would be helped into work if this government brought in Labour’s Real Jobs Guarantee. Ministers should stop tinkering around the edges and bring in Labour’s plan, which would use a tax on bankers bonuses to get 110,000 young people across the country into work, into real jobs they would be required to take.

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Liam Byrne said:

We’ve had two years of excuses and now we’ve got the evidence – this Government has utterly failed to tackle Britain’s jobs emergency, and we are limping along in crisis.

The number of people signing on is going up, we still have more than a million young people out of work, more women unemployed than since 1987 and a benefits bill that is spiralling by the day

Last month’s budget should have taken big and bold action to get Britain back to work. Instead we got a hand-out for millionaires, and a slap down for anyone on tax credits.

By recklessly raising taxes and cutting spending too far and too fast, this Government choked off the recovery, pushing up borrowing by £150 billion and leaving unemployment continuing to soar.

Press release: Labour to force vote on tax cut for millionaires

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Sheila Gilmore

Labour will force a vote on Wednesday this week to block the Government’s decision to cut the taxes of the 1% of taxpayers earning over £150,000 a year.

The vote comes as ordinary families in places like Edinburgh face losing an average of £511 a year as a result of the decisions taken by this Government from this month.

Sheila Gilmore said;

The Tory-led Government used to say “we are all in this together”. Well, not any more.

The choices this Tory-led Government is making prove it is totally out of touch with what life is like for people in our country. When bills are going up for families on middle and low incomes – George Osborne has added to them all.

David Cameron and George Osborne could have used that money to cut fuel duty or reverse unfair and perverse cuts to tax credits – which means thousands of working parents are better off quitting work.

And at the very same time in the Budget they cut taxes for the 300,000 people earning over £150,000 – the richest 1% – and just 14,000 people earning £1million or more will get a tax cut of over £40,000 each year. How can this be the right priority now?