SPORT YOUR TRAINERS THIS MONDAY, SAYS JOHN

09 Mar 2012

The SNP’s John Mason is encouraging East End residents to sport their trainers this Monday as part of “Sport Your Trainers Day” for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. A huge enthusiast of Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games, the East End MSP recently took part in a parliamentary photo call to promote Sport Your Trainers Day, which is a national campaign, led by the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, who are encouraging everyone across the country to wear their trainers on Commonwealth Day – 12th March. So far over one million people across Scotland and the Commonwealth have pledged to sport their trainers on Commonwealth Day.

Mr Mason is encouraging constituents, whether they are at home, work or play, to show their support for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games by ditching their normal footwear and wearing their trainers for the day

Speaking ahead of “Sport Your Trainers Day”, the Shettleston MSP, John Mason, said:

“The Commonwealth Games Organising Committee is also encouraging participants to step up and adopt a healthy challenge, whether that is something as simple as taking the stairs instead of the lift, or something more demanding such as taking up a new sport. As part of Commonwealth week, I will be taking the stairs in Parliament all week and ditching the lift – it’s 110 stairs up to my Parliament office, so I suspect that will be good exercise in addition to my usual tenement leafleting regime!

“This year Sport Your Trainers has been backed by Carol Smillie, Edith Bowman, Fred MacAulay and many others. I would encourage all East Enders to take part this Monday”.

LOCAL MSP JOHN DEALS WITH 1,000TH CONSTITUENCY CASE

09 Mar 2012

Local MSP for the East End, John Mason, has revealed that he has dealt with over 1,000 constituency cases since he was elected as the MSP for Glasgow Shettleston in May 2011. Mr Mason officially opened his shop front Constituency Office at the end of August 2011 but has been dealing with cases since he was elected. Last week saw John and his team of staff deal with their 1,000th case.

The SNP MSP, who pledged to open a shop front Constituency Office if elected, said he saw his Parkhead Cross office as part of his “open, accessible and available” agenda. During his two years as the Member of the Westminster Parliament for Glasgow East, John Mason also opened a highly visible shop front office on Shettleston Road, where he and his team of staff dealt with over 2,000 constituency cases.

In campaigning to win the city’s East End seat at Holyrood last year, John Mason pointed out that local Labour politicians often stand for election, and then quickly disappear into a business centre where no-one can see them or get assistance with constituency cases.

Speaking from his Parkhead base, the SNP’s John Mason, said:

“I am delighted that we now have an established Constituency Office in the East End, which local residents can easily approach for advice and assistance. Since being elected last May, we have literally been working non-stop with casework, which is good in one sense, because it means people are keeping in contact with their MSP. What is a little more disappointing, however, is the number of problems people experience on a daily basis. These can range from issues like missed refuse collections, to major issues like benefits being stopped or people being made homeless.

“Housing continues to be the main problem that constituents bring to my attention. Just recently I was visiting a constituent at home who is wheelchair bound but is living in a third floor flat – that’s just wrong and is a typical example as to why we need continued investment in socially rented housing.
“My fully-staffed Constituency Office is open Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm, and open until 7pm on a Friday for constituents who wish to attend my evening surgery.

“During last year’s election, I pledged to be open, accessible and available to my constituents. Every constituent can phone me at the office or on my mobile and anyone can visit my Constituency Office during the week. Similarly, I am committed to delivering local newsletters around the East End – not just during elections, but throughout the year – and keeping people up to date with my activities in Holyrood and the East End.

“It is a privilege to be the local MSP for Glasgow Shettleston and I am here to serve the people as best I can. We all know the East End has its problems and people need help with a variety of issues, be it housing, social work, education or health. My office is open and my team staff and I are here to help”.

EAST END MSP TAKES FACEBOOK FEEDBACK TO HOLYROOD

09 Mar 2012

Glasgow Shettleston MSP, John Mason, tonight took part in a Scottish Parliament Members’ debate on the living wage. Prior to the debate, the SNP MSP invited contacts on the social networking site, Facebook, to share their views about the living wage, which helped form part of Mr Mason’s speech during the debate.

Commenting, the SNP’s John Mason MSP said:

“Tonight was an opportunity for me to try something new and it’s definitely something that I’ll consider again.

“I am delighted that there is a lot of focus on the living wage at the moment, with at least two recent parliamentary debates and a motion at the forthcoming SNP conference in Glasgow this weekend. As politicians, we’ve had a fair bit of time to make our point in Parliament in recent weeks, so I thought using Facebook would be a good opportunity to open up the debate a bit.

“Paying a living wage and tackling poverty through fair pay is a subject very close to my heart. One of the main issues I am keen to pursue during my time in Parliament is the ever widening gap between the rich and the poor. In researching for tonight’s speech, I found out that it is very possible for the Chief Executive of Tesco to earn up to £6.5 million per annum – some 750 times more than an employee at the bottom of the company. That’s just pure greed as far as I’m concerned and there’s something fundamentally wrong about that.

“I am grateful to all my facebook contacts and constituents who continue to share their views on my facebook page – we might not always 100% agree on everything all the time but it’s good to engage in the debate and that’s precisely what it’s there for.”

JOHN MASON SUPPORTS SCOTTISH TOURISM WEEK

05 Mar 2012

The Scottish National Party MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, John Mason, has given his support to Scottish Tourism Week which takes place between 6th and 13th of March. The event seeks to raise the profile of tourism within Scotland and highlights tourism’s multi-billion contribution to the Scottish economy and employment of over 220,000 people in 20,000 businesses.

Welcoming the efforts to promote tourism, the SNP’s John Mason MSP, said:

“Scottish Tourism Week highlights a key economic sector in Scotland. Tourism continues to develop as a major area for growth in Scotland and in Glasgow in particular, where we have a tremendous wealth of attractions, historic sites and world class architecture.

“Even here in the East End, there is a lot to be excited about. Just recently we had Celtic Connections at St Andrews Square, which was superb, and we’re thoroughly looking forward to the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Locally there are plenty of places to visit like Glasgow’s Peoples’ Palace and Glasgow Green, so I would highly recommend folk to get stuck in and enjoy what will be a fantastic week to promote Scottish tourism”.

“We in Scotland sometimes take for granted the excellent environment we all enjoy every day. Increasingly though, we need to exploit every opportunity to attract visitors from the UK and the rest of the world to our nation to contribute to our economy.

“Scottish Tourism week does an excellent job in underlining the important role that tourism plays in the development of our nation and I am delighted to have been involved.”