Next Thursday, voters in East Renfrewshire will go to the polls to determine the political composition of the council for the next five years.
At present, East Renfrewshire is one of six councils in Scotland where Labour is in coalition with the SNP.
Whilst Labour’s previous actions show a willingness to make deals to put the Nationalists into power, they have been clear for years now that no working arrangements with Scottish Conservatives, as the largest pro-UK party, will be entertained.
Indeed, Labour even went so far as to suspend it’s Aberdeen City councillors for going into coalition with Conservatives in what was subsequently named as the best local authority in the UK such has been the success enjoyed by the two political groups working together.
And let’s not forget that it was only in March when Scottish Labour’s Deputy Leader, Jackie Baillie described her party’s involvement with the Scottish Conservatives in the Better Together campaign as “wrong”.
In East Renfrewshire, the priorities of local people are often treated as an afterthought by the SNP-Labour Coalition and the actions of the current Administration has consistently threatened the development of our hugely valued local greenspaces.
It is only through the resolute efforts of local communities and East Renfrewshire Conservatives that we have been able to prevent the removal of our much-loved greenspaces and so far preserve sites such as Broomburn Park, Crookfur Park and Huntly Park.
Within the resources available, the issue of restoring the local roads infrastructure to an acceptable standard has not been afforded the level of attention and priority, which it should have been by the SNP and Labour.
Many roads in East Renfrewshire remain in a long-standing state of disrepair and in response to previous enquiries on individual surfaces, the council have often said that the requirement for repairs far outstrips the available finances.
The SNP Government in Edinburgh has devastated the core finances of councils for years and at a time when UK Government funding for Scotland has been on the rise.
In East Renfrewshire, we have a Nationalist-led council that will not stand up to Nicola Sturgeon and demand a better deal for our area.
Indeed, the Administration has been happy to go along with a situation whereby they have increased council tax in most years of the current term but not for the purposes of investing in local services such as maximising the number of roads to be resurfaced but simply to offset SNP Government cuts.
Labour have proved that they can’t be trusted to stand up to the Nationalists.
The only way to stop the SNP and ensure the full focus of the next five years is on important local issues and delivering for the people of East Renfrewshire is to vote Scottish Conservative on Thursday 5th May.
Last Monday, the legal requirement to wear a face covering in most indoor public spaces such as supermarkets and on public transport was removed.
Most residents in Eastwood now no longer appear to be wearing masks and it has been a real joy at seeing people’s reactions, smiles and delight at being able to greet one another normally again.