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Welcome to the Website of Angus Robertson MP
Angus has represented Moray in the House of Commons since 2001 and has been Westminster Scottish National Party Leader since 2007. Matters currently reserved to the Westminster Parliament include foreign and defence policy, fiscal and economic policy, immigration and nationality, energy, broadcasting, Post Offices, social security, Child Support Agency, Tax Credits and pensions. Angus has Constituency Offices in Elgin and Keith and he consistently ranks as one of Westminster?s hardest working MPs in the country. "Many thanks for visiting my website. It contains information about issues in Moray, Scotland, and further afield. It is also a guide to the duties I perform on your behalf, and how I can help. You'll see regular updates on speeches I make in parliament, and articles and videos about all of my activities. The site also contains valuable resources for constituents, so please take a look around. Suggestions and feedback are always welcome and I hope you enjoy using the website."
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MORAY MP & MSP WELCOME HIE ECONOMIC REPORT |
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Monday, 16 August 2010 00:00 |
Moray’s MP Angus Robertson and MSP Richard Lochhead have welcomed the publication of a re port by Highlands and Islands Enterprise on the ‘Economic Impact of Moray RAF Bases’.
The report details the contribution by the RAF presence in Moray to the local economy and the social impact that the bases have.
Commenting on the report Angus Robertson MP said:
“ The importance of the RAF Kinloss and RAF Lossiemouth bases to the Moray economy is clearly significant and this report from HIE shows in detail what that economic impact is.
“ Nearly six thousand people are employed in Moray as a result of the RAF presence representing 16 per cent of full time employment in the region and pushing more than £150 million pounds into the economy every year.
“ This information published by HIE adds to the already very strong strategic defence argument for the bases to be retained and highlights the strong links that exist between the bases and the wider Moray community.”
Richard Lochhead MSP said:
 “ The contribution of our local RAF bases in Moray goes much further than just employment, there are significant numbers of people employed in the health and social care sectors who are spouses or partners of serving personnel and the loss of those skills would be extremely detrimental.
“ The RAF forms an integral part of Moray life and the bond with the local community is extremely strong. That integration is something that it is hard to put a price one but which is impossible to replicate.
“ The UK Government must recognise all of these factors which contribute to an effective armed forces and give their backing to Moray’s bases.” |
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SNP SAY CUT TRIDENT NOT CONVENTIONAL FORCES |
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Friday, 13 August 2010 00:00 |
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Responding to the announcement by the Defence Secretary of a review on the restructuring of the Ministry of Defence, SNP Westminster Leader and Defence spokesperson Angus Robertson MP warned that the overhaul must not undermine the capabilities of forces currently engaged in Afghanistan. Mr Robertson said the announcement now made it essential for the UK Government to abandon Trident renewal, and focus resources on conventional defence priorities.
Mr Robertson said:
“While Liam Fox undoubtedly inherited a financial disaster from the last Labour government, he must not now make the same mistakes himself. In restructuring the MoD, the government must not undermine the conventional capabilities of our forces who are currently engaged in Afghanistan.
“This overhaul also makes it even more important that the Tory/Liberal Democrat coalition abandon Trident renewal. Conventional forces, which have already been cut back, should not be forced to compete with Trident for resources.
“Once a deterrent, Trident has itself now become one of the biggest defence risks we face with the cost of replacement threatening the future of conventional forces and bases.
“Absorbing Trident into the core defence budget is unsustainable and would have a devastating impact for spending on conventional forces, which are already overstretched. The implications of this decision could not be more serious.
“The strategic review is about choices for the future and prioritising our defence needs in a changed world. Conventional forces, which have already been cut back, should not be forced to compete with Trident for resources.
“Anyway that you look at it, on moral, economic or political grounds, renewal of these weapons of mass destruction is untenable.
“The SNP believe it should be scrapped and more so, at a time when public spending faces savage cuts across the board, the time has come to accept that Trident can no longer be treated as some sacred cow. The majority of Scots oppose Trident along with the Scottish Parliament and civil society. In these financially difficult times why should Scots pay for the London parties' obsession with weapons of mass destruction?” |
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MP URGES CONSUMER CAUTION ON BROADBAND CONTRACTS |
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Thursday, 12 August 2010 00:00 |
Moray’s MP Angus Robertson is urging caution by consumers when it comes to choosing broadband providers.
With the majority of people now using a broadband service there is a growing concerns from customers and from industry watchdog OFCOM that Internet Service Providers are not providing good and accurate information in their adverts.
Other experiences from Moray broadband customers include being told that broadband is not available for their property when, in fact, other providers can provide a service and, in a similar vein, customers being encouraged to take up broadband by service providers who don’t have a service in that area.
One of the biggest concerns relates to the advertised average connection speeds which can differ hugely from the average speeds actually received by customers.
Local MP Angus Robertson said:
“ The claims made by many broadband providers in their adverts give the impression that high speeds are likely, however OFCOM has found that in some cases only 2% of customers are close to the highest speed with a staggering two thirds getting less than a third of the highest advertised speed.
“ I welcome the fact that a new code of conduct is being drawn up by the regulator and the industry but in the meantime I would urge people in Moray to try and get straight answers from ISPs, particularly on the issues of speed and availability in their area.
“ There are a large number of factors that can affect broadband performance and the companies selling these products have a duty to inform potential customers of the service they can realistically expect.
“ Most households will be spending anything between £100 and £300 a year on these services which is no small amount of money.” |
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MP & MSP TO VISIT ROTHES FLOOD SCHEME |
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Tuesday, 10 August 2010 00:00 |
Moray’s MP, Angus Robertson, and MSP, Richard Lochhead, will tomorrow [Wednesday] visit the Rothes Flood Scheme.
The local Parliamentarians will join local SNP Councillor Pearl Paul, Moray Council Convener George McIntyre and representatives of the Council’s Flood Alleviation Team to see progress on the complex multi-million pound scheme, designed to protect homes and businesses in the Speyside Town.
Speaking ahead of the meeting Angus Robertson MP said:
“ The work that is being done in Rothes is vital to the protection of homes and businesses in the town. I am pleased that the SNP Government has been able to provide funding to support the The Moray Council in this major infrastructure project.
“ A high level of protection against severe flood events will be provided when this work is complete and in the most recent flooding incidents significant areas of the town have already been saved from flooding where the first stages of the work were complete.”
Richard Lochhead MSP said:
“ The SNP has supported the progression of major flood schemes across Moray and it is good to see the work on the Rothes scheme.
“ A massive amount of effort goes into designing and building these complex schemes and I know from speaking to residents that they are very pleased with the protection that the scheme will provide for families and businesses in the town.” |
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UK GOVT MUST BE HONEST WITH FUTURE OF MOD JOBS |
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Saturday, 07 August 2010 00:00 |
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CON/DEM PLANS COULD DEVASTATE LOCAL COMMUNITIES
SNP Westminster Leader and Defence Spokesman Angus Robertson MP has today called on the UK Government to be honest and reveal the cuts that cuts they plan to hit Scotland’s Armed Forces with.
Concerns have been raised after details of cuts planned by the MoD were leaked to the Telegraph newspaper. The cuts could mean job losses as RAF Lossiemouth and RAF Marham totalling almost 5,000 personnel.
Mr Robertson said:
“This news will of course cause a lot of worry in the MoD communities. There can be no doubt that cuts are coming up the road from Westminster and it’s only a matter time until they hit. However, the Con/Dem alliance should be focused on cutting the vanity projects like Trident in order to protect the thousands of jobs at risk in our Armed Forces.
“MoD jobs are at the heart of many local communities across Scotland and the cuts would ripple through many areas.
"To contemplate cuts on this scale to our conventional forces is absurd while the renewal of Trident is being treated as some sacred cow.
“What is important just now is that George Osbourne, Danny Alexander and Liam Fox are honest about what they are cut. Members of our Armed Forces should be hearing about potential job losses through the newspapers.
“We can only continue to track the impact of government decisions in Scotland and elsewhere if the MoD answer the questions. The stakes could not be higher and the government must make a fair and balanced defence footprint across the UK a priority.
“To date, Scotland has been massively short-changed on its fair share of defence spending and all the indications are that the SDR could have further catastrophic consequences for the defence footprint in Scotland. The MoD’s own figures show that £5.6bn less has been spent on defence in Scotland than has been contributed by taxpayers, and 10,000 defence jobs have been lost in Scotland since the last strategic review.
“If the strategic review fails to address the mammoth cutbacks in defence spending that we have seen over the last decade, then the coalition government risks even more damaging decline for the defence footprint in Scotland and causing irreparable damage to local communities across the country.”
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SNP DEMAND ANSWERS ON ROYAL MAIL PRIVATISATION PLANS |
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Monday, 02 August 2010 00:00 |
Moray MP Angus Robertson, along with SNP colleagues, is calling on the UK coalition government to “come clean” over plans for privatisation of Royal Mail after a parliamentary answer received by the SNP raised further questions about the government’s plan.
The MP, who has long campaigned on Royal Mail and Post Office issues, is extremely concerned that privatisation would mean profit at the expense of service in rural areas like Speyside and Banffshire, where the Universal Service model currently operated by Royal Mail gives a consistency of price and service that is vital in sustaining rural business and jobs.
Residents across Moray have also regularly backed campaigns on postal service issues, whether that has been against post office closures or to protect Royal Mail’s Universal Service Obligation.
The Government has previously commented that they were looking at a “John Lewis” solution, which would be a partnership sharing profits, however in a response to the SNP the Postal Affairs Minister, Ed Davey, confirmed that the government were looking at “an injection of private capital into Royal Mail, including opportunities for employee ownership.”
The SNP’s Mr Robertson says that this is nothing like the John Lewis partnership model which shares profits amongst the partners.
Commenting local Moray MP Angus Robertson said:
“ Talk about the John Lewis model is simply as a smokescreen for privatisation of Royal Mail. It is clear that the Tories and Liberals are seeking to privatise the business and offer workers a small amount of shares to give the impression of employee participation rather than complete employee or continued public ownership .
“ This is a slippery slope that will damage Royal Mail and the important services it provides to areas like rural Moray.
“ Constituents across Moray regularly tell me of the importance of the postal services they receive and any reduction in service would make doing business in the countryside much more difficult.
“ In the modern era rural areas are benefiting from Internet connections and communications technology that let them operate effectively in areas like Speyside and rural Banffshire but that could all be undone if businesses can’t easily supply their customers through Royal Mail.
“ The UK government need to come clean – this is nothing more than the same old privatisations operated by the Thatcher administrations. When the utility companies were privatised customers were offered shares, but the reality now is that all but two of the companies have been taken over by major foreign energy giants.
“ If the UK government are allowed to go down this route it is only a matter of time before the company comes wholly under private control. Such an outcome would be a disaster and inevitably lead to strong pressure for relaxation or abolition of the universal service obligation.
“ Royal Mail cannot be regarded as simply another company. It contains a vital social element that must be protected.”
The parliamentary question tabled by the SNP is set out below:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what percentage of ownership his Department plans to make available to (a) employees of Royal Mail and (b) private shareholders under his Department's proposals to create a shared ownership structure for Royal Mail.
Mr Davey: The coalition Government wish to secure the future of Royal Mail and to ensure the maintenance of the universal postal service. As set out in the coalition agreement, we will therefore seek to ensure an injection of private capital into Royal Mail, including opportunities for employee ownership. A Postal Services Bill to implement these measures was subsequently included in the Queen's Speech and we will announce further details of our plans in due course. |
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MORAY PARLIAMENTARIANS IN SPEY INSPECTION |
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Sunday, 01 August 2010 00:00 |
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MP & MSP TAKEN ON TECHNICAL RIVER WALK WITH SEPA & SNH
On Friday Moray’s MP Angus Robertson and MSP Richard Lochhead went on a river walk of the Lower Spey area with representatives from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).
The aim of the river walk was to go over a range of technical issues around the river movement, habitats and other issues relating to flooding affecting Garmouth and Kingston.
The SNP MP and MSP have supported local residents getting their concerns taken up by the various bodies involved with river management and flood alleviation and ensuring that issue remains in the spotlight.
Commenting on the river walk Angus Robertson MP said:
“ This is the latest in a series of meetings with agencies and community representatives to keep the issue of flooding in Kingston & Garmouth moving forward.
“ We are in the process of arranging further update meetings with the people affected by these issues and I am pleased to take any opportunity to get officials on the ground next to the Spey and hammer out the the technical issues involved in dealing with flooding on the Lower Spey.
“ Dealing with flooding is a frightening and stressful experience for householders and every avenue to minimise risk needs to be explored.”
Richard Lochhead MSP said:
“ The walk along the Spey with technical officers from SEPA and SNH has been very useful in drilling into the problems raised by residents of Garmouth and Kingston.
“ The Moray Council has already reviewed its position following the public meeting held in Garmouth early in the year but what people want to see is action on the ground.
“ It is important all the agencies and riparian owners are working closely to find ways of better protecting the community in future flood events.”
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