ROYAL BRITISH LEGION CAMPAIGN – EILIDH WHITEFORD PLEDGES TO 'DO HER BIT'

SNP Westminster candidate for Banff & Buchan Eilidh Whiteford has pledged her support to the Royal British Legion’s ‘Do Your Bit’ Campaign. The move follows her visit to the Longside Branch of the Royal British Legion Scotland's highly successful coffee morning last weekend.
The local SNP candidate has signed up to the Legion’s manifesto, which calls upon the Westminster Government to:

• Improve and keep the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme under continual review
• Stop breaches of harmony guidelines (deployment rates) in order to reduce family separation and breakdown
• Provide bereaved Armed Forces families with independent legal advice during inquests
• Introduce an Independent Advisory Committee on Military Deaths
• Make NHS priority treatment work for veterans with injuries caused by Service in the Armed Forces

Tackle poverty among older veterans and widows

Dr Whiteford made the pledge on the campaign's website at www.timetodoyourbit.org.uk

Commenting, Eilidh Whiteford said:

“Perhaps more than ever, our brave forces personnel need our support. However, it’s important that we don’t forget the need to be there to support ex-service personnel after they return home to civilian life as well.

“That’s why I’m pleased to be able to lend my support to such a worthwhile campaign and I would encourage everyone to visit the website to find out how they can get involved.

“We ask our forces to do extraordinary things on behalf of their country, so we owe it to them to provide the best possible support, whether they be in or out of uniform. I’m delighted to be able to endorse the aims of the ‘Do Your Bit’ campaign, and look forward to working closely with the Legion to help them wherever I can.”

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WHITEFORD WELCOMES FURTHER CUT IN PRESCRIPTION CHARGES

SNP Westminster candidate for Banff & Buchan Eilidh Whiteford has welcomed the final cut in prescription charges, implemented last week, before they are abolished in April 2011.
Commenting, Dr Whiteford said:

“In these tough economic times, hundreds of thousands of people are already better off thanks to the SNP Government’s action and they will continue to be better off as we move to full abolition of all prescription charges next year.

“Healthcare should be free at the point of access for everyone - this is the founding principle of the NHS, so removing the prescription charge will ensure that cost is not a barrier to those needing to take the medication prescribed to them.

“A year-on-year increase in Prescription Pre-payment Certificate sales proves that this policy is helping even more patients, particularly those with long-term conditions and others who require the greatest number of prescription items.

“We have seen in previous years that the spend on prescription charges across Grampian NHS area before they were cut was around £5.5 million a year. That is significant sum of money to be putting back in people’s pockets, and can only benefit the regional economy too.”

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"APRIL FUEL TAX NO JOKE" SAYS WHITEFORD

As pump prices for petrol head for record levels, SNP Westminster candidate for Banff & Buchan Eilidh Whiteford has slammed the Tories for sitting on their hands as Labour's fuel tax comes into force.

With the AA warning that the price of petrol and diesel is edging closer to a record high at the pumps, following the rise in fuel duty which came into effect on 1 April, the SNP candidate says voters can make Labour pay at the polls for making them pay at the pumps.

Speaking today Eilidh Whiteford said:

“This increase came into effect on April Fool's day and Labour are taking the people of Scotland for fools as the first stage of the Chancellor's fuel tax increase pushes pump prices for petrol up to record levels. But the April Fuel Tax is sadly no joke.

"Increases in fuel duty are not a green tax, they are a Brown one, and people across Scotland have had their fill of Labour’s fuel duty increases. What Treasury Ministers in London forget is that for people in rural areas, a car is a necessity and not a luxury. While Labour brought in the tax, the Tories sat on their hands and did nothing to stop it.

"These latest warnings from the AA confirm that Labour and Gordon Brown have learnt nothing from their years in government. Sky-high fuel taxes imposed by Gordon Brown, and latterly Alistair Darling, are indiscriminate and effectively a poll tax on wheels.

“It’s not just hauliers who suffer but ordinary families struggling to run a car for normal use. The effects of rising fuel taxes also impact on prices in the stores with costs increasing to deliver food and other products to the shops."

Eilidh Whiteford has also given a commitment that the SNP will continue to oppose fuel tax hikes and seek the introduction of measures to reduce the pressure on driver, particularly those in rural areas.

Dr Whiteford continued:

“I can categorically say that the SNP MPs will oppose Labour's arbitrary fuel tax hikes and propose the introduction of a fuel duty regulator to ensure price stability as well as lower fuel taxes for remote areas."

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FRASERBURGH: SALMOND TO OFFICIALLY OPEN COMMUNITY WEB CAFÉ

CUMINESTOWN: SALMOND TO PRESENT STRIPS TO YOUTH FOOTBALL TEAM

On Monday 5 April, First Minister and Banff & Buchan MP Alex Salmond will, at 12.30pm, officially open Fraserburgh Community Web Café, 24 Broad Street, Fraserburgh.

Later, at 4.30pm, Mr Salmond will present Cuminestown Youth Active Football Club with new strips at Cuminestown playing fields. The strips were bought with an award from the Mary Salmond Trust. Following his election as MSP in 2007 Mr Salmond has donated his Scottish Parliamentary salary to the trust which has so far benefited over seventy good causes across North-east Scotland.

Mr Salmond will be joined at both events by SNP Westminster candidate for Banff & Buchan Eilidh Whiteford.

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