Katy Gordon

A UK-wide campaign to encourage people to recycle more of their household waste has been backed by Liberal Democrats in Glasgow North.

National Recycling Week is being held on 2nd – 8th June. This is the fifth year it has been held. It is run by Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP), a national organisation set up to help people produce less waste and advise on how best to deal with rubbish in an environmentally friendly way.

Katy Gordon, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Spokesperson for Glasgow North said, “In Glasgow the recycling and composting rate is 17.9%, the worst performance of all 32 local authorities in Scotland. That means we still have a long way to go before we are dealing with our waste in a way that does not leave a lasting problem for generations to come.

“Liberal Democrats in Glasgow North are delighted to be able to back National Recycling Week. We are encouraging as many residents as possible to make small changes in their lifestyles which will make large strides to ensuring we do not wreck our environment.

“We waste a huge amount of food each year – on average we throw away 112kg of food each, most of which is still usable. People can avoid this waste by doing simple things such as producing a shopping list of what food is needed, rather than wandering around the supermarket buying what takes your fancy!

“Last year in the UK, it was estimated that we spent £8 billion on food that was still fit to be used when it was thrown away. Being green can save money! But if you do produce food waste, why not get a compost bin if you have a garden?

“People should also try to buy food and other goods which have less packaging. And full use should be made of recycling facilities to dispose of waste. It is better that waste is turned back into something that is useful rather than dumped in the ground.

Read the rest of this entry »

If the anti Labour swing in the Crewe and Nantwich by election were replicated at the next General Election, the Liberal Democrats would win the Westminster seat of Glasgow North.

Liberal Democrats in Glasgow North were only 3,338 votes behind Labour at the last General Election in 2005 and only require an anti Labour swing of 6%.

Today’s result in Crewe and Nantwich was a 17.6% swing away from Labour. While the Tories won Crewe and Nantwich, they have no significant presence in Scotland with no David Cameron effect.

Katy Gordon, Liberal Democrat Westminster Parliamentary Spokesperson for Glasgow North, said:

“The anti Labour vote in Crewe and Nantwich is huge. It is clear that people are turning away from Labour in massive numbers. People are unhappy at the direction of the government and particularly their taxation policies. Despite Gordon Brown’s by election bribe to try and get back the support he lost over the abolition of the 10p tax rate, Labour lost by a huge margin.

In Glasgow North, the Liberal Democrats are best placed to win the seat at the next election. Only yesterday I was speaking to former Labour voters in the constituency who told me they couldn’t face voting Labour next time thanks to their taxation policies and attitude to civil liberties.”

Katy took time off from campaigning on Sunday to join over 12,000 women running the 10K in Glasgow. On a hot day, with hundreds of spectators cheering runners on, the race was a great way of demonstrating the benefits of keeping fit, although most appreciated this more once they had finally finished. Katy commented:

“This is the second time I’ve run the 10K in Glasgow and I loved it. Running for election is not as hard as running a 10k, but less hard work on the legs!”

The Evening Times has a feature on the 10k, with videos and more pictures.

Responding to the Government’s Draft Pre-legislative Statement published yesterday, Katy Gordon, Parliamentary Spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, said:

“On Tuesday we heard that Gordon Brown was giving away £2.7 billion to all tax payers to plug the hole for the lower paid created by his abolition of the 10p tax rate.  But only around £630m – less than a quarter – will actually go to the 5.3 million people who lost out, making it an extremely poorly targeted policy.

Yesterday he rushed out his legislative plans for next year 2 months earlier than last year.  But these proposals are either addressing things the Government said weren’t a problem, like the economy, or trying to turn around problems the Government has created, like over-centralisation.  Do we really need another 6 Home Affairs Bills, when they have already created 3,000 new offences since 1997?  These proposals will do nothing to help the people of Glasgow North who are struggling with fuel poverty and the rising cost of living.

Is it a coincidence that both announcements have come at a time when Labour is desperate to avoid a by election defeat in Crewe & Nantwich?  Policy making in response to news headlines is no way to run the country.”

Katy was out speaking to people on the doorsteps with Lorely Burt MP, Shadow Minister for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform at the weekend.
Not surprisingly the 10p tax rate and disillusion with the government was top of voters minds, which may well be reflected in results in the English & Welsh local elections this week.