SNP West Kilbride

30/03/2026

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30/03/2026

For immediate release: Monday 30th March 2026

LABOUR PLOT FOR GRUBBY DEAL WITH REFORM EXPOSED

AN SNP MAJORITY WILL LOCK FARAGE AND REFORM OUT OF POWER

Labour’s plot for a grubby, backroom deal with Nigel Farage and Reform UK has been exposed today – confirming that only an SNP majority will lock Reform out of power in Scotland.

The Scotsman today reports that Labour’s election planning is predicated on hopes that “Labour would be the only party able to form a government with the help of Reform” and that “Labour’s potential route to Bute House would rely on unionist parties, including Reform, to vote in Mr Sarwar as first minister…with Labour attempting to govern as a small minority administration.”

The reporting includes a claim from a senior Labour source claiming that they would “have the moral mandate having come from third, even if we are marginally being the SNP as the biggest party”.

SNP Campaign Director Angus Robertson said:

“These extraordinary revelations confirm the potential for a grubby, backroom deal between Labour and Nigel Farage after the election – and show us once and for all that the way to ensure Farage and Reform are locked out of power in Scotland is to deliver an SNP majority.

“Until now, Labour had clearly been planning to pull the wool over the eyes of the people of Scotland – but this senior source saying the quiet part loud has shown people exactly what Labour would do given half the chance.

“It is clear that there is not even a hint of principle in Labour’s plans – and there are serious questions for Alex Cole-Hamilton and the Lib Dems as to whether they would go along with a deal with someone like Farage.

“Labour would clearly say and do anything to get into power. What a contrast to the strong, experienced leadership of John Swinney which is putting the priorities of the people of Scotland first – improving the NHS, supporting people with the cost of living and delivering the fresh start of independence.

“Today has confirmed that an SNP majority win is absolutely vital – because it will not just unlock the transformational change of independence but will lock Reform UK out of power in Scotland.”

16/02/2026

HOSPITALITY RELIEF RISES TO 40% WITH SNP GOVERNMENT SUPPORT WORTH £322 MILLION

Finance Secretary Shona Robison MSP has announced that the SNP Government’s budget will further support businesses by reducing the Basic, Intermediate and Higher Property Rates in 2026 27, given the forthcoming revaluation on 01 April 2026.

In total, Non-Domestic Rates (NDR) reliefs funded by the SNP Government are forecast to save ratepayers £864 million in 2026-27

Retail, hospitality, and leisure support will be worth £322 million over the next three years.

Kenneth Gibson MSP said:

“I am delighted that the SNP Government will provide transitional reliefs and continue the Small Business Bonus Scheme, removing 100,000 properties from rates altogether.

“The Budget will provide 40% relief for the next three years, for retail, hospitality and leisure premises liable for the Basic and Intermediate Property rate, capped at £110,000 per business per year.

“In designated remote areas and islands including Arran and Cumbrae that relief will be 100%.

“In total, including the small business bonus, over 96% of retail, hospitality and leisure properties will pay zero or reduced rates.”

“This is a Budget for all of Scotland.”

ENDS

15/02/2026

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15/02/2026

150 YEARS AGO TODAY, ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL FILED HIS PATENT FOR THE FIRST TELEPHONE

Alexander Bell was born in Charlotte Square, Edinburgh on 03 March 1847.

Sound and speech were part of Bell’s life from a young age: his father was a well-known elocution and speech training teacher, whose work focused on developing a system of ‘visible speech’, which allowed speech sounds to be written down.

He aimed to use this visualisation as a means of teaching deaf people to speak, without them ever having heard words spoken.

Encouraged by his father, Alexander attempted to make working models of ear and vocal cords, aiming to create a mechanical speech device.

He attended classes in anatomy and physiology in London for a couple of years where he built his understanding of how speech and hearing worked.

Following the death of Bell’s two brothers from tuberculosis, in 1870 the family emigrated to Canada before Bell moved to the United States a year later.

Building on his father’s earlier work on the human voice, he started teaching deaf students in Boston before being appointed Professor of Vocal Physiology and Elocution at Boston University.

Early experiments in speech creation, along with his knowledge of anatomy, informed his own experiments on transmitting speech, which he began in earnest from 1873.

Through study and experimentation, Bell hypothesised that if sound waves could be converted into a fluctuating electric current, that current could then be reconverted into sound waves identical to the original at the other end of the circuit.

150 years ago to the day, on 14 February 1876, Bell filed an application for ‘Improvements in Telegraphy’.

On 10 March 1876, his first intelligible telephone communication was made.

Bell was in his laboratory with this latest experimental version of a telephone transmitter, while in his bedroom, his assistant Watson waited with a reed receiver pressed against his ear. Two days later, Bell described what happened:

“I then shouted into M [the mouthpiece] the following sentence: ‘Mr Watson – Come here – I want to see you.’ To my delight he came and declared that he had heard and understood what I said.”

In July 1877, Bell, Watson (and other funders) established the Bell Telephone Company to market their new device.

All summer Bell travelled Britain promoting his invention and even demonstrated the device to Queen Victoria who was so amused she asked to keep the temporary installation in place.

The first telephones – called box telephones because of their shape – went on sale later that year.

Bell’s last visit to Edinburgh was in November 1920. He gave a speech to pupils at the city’s Royal High School, where he had been a student 60 years before.

He imagined that this young generation might live to see a time when someone “in any part of the world would be able to telephone to any other part of the world without any wires at all.”

He died on 02 August 1922 aged 75. On the day of his funeral, the telephone systems in the US and Canada were silenced for one minute.

ENDS

21/01/2026

A reminder for parents and carers that free breakfast is being offered to all North Ayrshire secondary pupils, every school morning throughout January until Friday 30 January 2026.

All secondary schools will be offering a free breakfast to pupils every school morning which includes either a hot roll or two of the following: fruit pot, croissant, cheese scone, pancake or toast.​

It is hoped the warm breakfasts will take some of the pressure off families when the cost of living bites hardest 🍴

Thank you to our catering staff who have helped provide these warm breakfasts when the young people need it the most.

08/01/2026

NUMBER OF LONG NHS WAITS FALLS FOR SIXTH CONSECUTIVE MONTH

New Public Health Scotland figures published today show real progress in reducing waiting times across NHS Scotland with the data confirming that the number of patients waiting over 52 weeks for an outpatient appointment fell by 12.8% in a single month between October and November 2025.

Numbers have fallen for six months in a row, even with winter pressures.

Inpatient and day case treatment waits are also down.

Locally, NHS Ayrshire & Arran’s average inpatient waiting time is now 121 days compared to 132 days across Scotland.

This improvement is backed by £135.5 million of targeted SNP Government funding and record investment of over £21 billion (£21,000 million) in health and social care.

Recent figures also show a 6% drop in the waiting list for new outpatient appointments since April, over 265,000 inpatient and day case procedures carried out in the past year (up 3.8%), and more than 1.3 million outpatient appointments (up 2.8%).

Importantly, 95% of new outpatients are now seen within 12 weeks of referral.

Kenneth Gibson MSP said:

"These figures demonstrate real and sustained progress in reducing waiting times for patients across Scotland, ensuring thousands more people receive the care they need.

“We have delivered record investment of £21 billion for health and social care, with £135.5 million of additional funding targeted at specialty areas with the longest waits.

“There is still much more to do, but I’m encouraged that we are demonstrating consistent month-on-month improvement.

The SNP Government remains committed to ensuring no patient waits longer than 52 weeks by March 2026."

ENDS

08/01/2026

REFORM UK ACCUSED OF BETRAYAL AFTER UNVEILING TAX RISES AND SERVICE CUTS

In the eight months since the last English council election, 41 of their councillors have already quit, or been forced to.

Meanwhile, four Reform-led local authorities have so far confirmed plans for inflation-busting council tax increases as well as reductions in investment and service cuts, prompting accusations by voters that the party is “betraying” them.

Ahead of last year’s English council elections, several leading candidates promised the party would “cut taxes”.

The party led by President Trump’s friend Nigel Farage also pledged to root out perceived “waste” in a drive inspired by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency in the US, the former pet project of the world’s wealthiest man, Elon Musk.

However less than a year after taking control of councils, the Financial Times (FT) has reported that draft budgets show Reform-led councils are turning to “tax rises, asset sales and service cuts to help balance their books.”

Derbyshire County Council and West Northamptonshire Council confirmed plans for council tax increases of 5%, the maximum amount permitted in England before a local referendum is required, while Worcestershire County Council requested ministerial permission to raise tax above that threshold in order to stave off bankruptcy.

Kent County Council - considered Reform UK’s flagship - delayed publishing its budget, due on Tuesday, while other Reform-led councils are expected to publish their budget proposals later this month.

Kenneth Gibson MSP commented:

“Reform UK’s betrayal of their voters will come as a reality check to Nigel Farage’s cheerleaders in Scotland who previously championed fantasy public finances rooted in the idea of “public service waste.”

“Reform-led councils are working under the same budgetary constraints as every other, due to decades of Westminster austerity.

“In some Reform-led councils, tax rises are being coupled with cuts to public services including the closure of household waste and recycling centres, cuts to winter gritting, selling off cultural assets and new parking charges.

“Today’s news reinforces the fact that multi-millionaire Farage has nothing to offer Scotland. He is the epitome of the Westminster establishment and with the fresh start of independence we can be rid of his brand of politics for good."

The full FT article can be accessed here: https://www.ft.com/content/6837f724-7e8b-43e8-914f-ef22d8358c90

ENDS

08/01/2026

24/11/2025

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