West Lothian RAAC campaigner walks out of Holyrood meeting in disgust
A campaigner fighting to get more help for home-owners hit by the RAAC scandal walked out of the Scottish Parliament in disgust this afternoon [Wednesday] after MSPs rejected their petition.
The National UK RAAC campaign had asked for the Scottish Housing Regulator to expand powers to include owners of former council homes.
But a meeting of the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee 'refused to budge' according to veteran campaigner Livingston RAAC campaigner Kerry Macintosh.
She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that when the call to change rules was declined: 'I was so angry when I came out of the committee room. It was very hard not to say anything. I stood up and said 'shocking' and walked out.'
Speaking after the meeting she told the LDRS: ' The people in parliament, the SNP government. They don't give a toss. They are not listening to what people are going through. They are overlooking things that are affecting peoples lives.
"This is as bad as the Post Office scandal. I'm just so annoyed at watching how homeowners are getting treated. The people in parliament are not living with what the people with RAAC in their homes are living with- the stress, the fear and the worry. There's five and half thousand people in Scotland suffering with this.'
RAAC affected homeowners from across Scotland had gathered outside Holyrood on Wednesday morning ahead of scheduled hearing of a petition submitted by the UK RAAC Campaign group calling for an urgent amendment to the remit of the Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) to include private owners of ex-council properties.
Currently, the SHR's responsibilities are restricted to social tenants—those who rent from councils or housing associations.
This means that when a private homeowner in an ex-council house discovers dangerous materials like RAAC, they have no regulator to turn to, no statutory advocate, and no co-ordinated government response.
The petition called for an alternative creation of an altogether new body to ensure that owners of ex-council homes are protected during structural crises such as the one currently unfolding because of the use of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete RAAC in the 1960s/ 70s.
Campaign leader Wilson Chowdhry has written to the new Housing Minister Mairi McAllan asking her to meet with home owners in Tillicoultry and West Lothian.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scotsman
12 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Donald Trump set to hit golf course on first day of Scottish visit
Protests are expected in Edinburgh and Aberdeen today following the arrival of the US president Sign up to our Politics newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... US President Donald Trump is expected to spend much of his first day in Scotland on the golf course after sweeping into Turnberry last night. Mr Trump drew crowds to Prestwick Airport on Friday evening as Air Force One touched down ahead of a four-day visit that will also take him to the club his family owns in Aberdeenshire. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad With a meeting scheduled with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer understood to be making the trip north on Monday, Mr Trump – a well-known golf enthusiast – appears to be free to play the vaunted Turnberry course on Saturday. But elsewhere, Scots will be protesting against the visit. Getty Images The Stop Trump Coalition has announced demonstrations in Edinburgh – near the American consulate in the Scottish capital – and another in Aberdeen in the days before his visit there. As he landed in Ayrshire on Friday, the president took questions from journalists, telling Europe to 'get your act together' on immigration, which he said was 'killing' the continent. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He also praised Sir Keir, who he described as a 'good man', who is 'slightly more liberal than I am'. Saturday will be the first real test of Police Scotland during the visit as it looks to control the demonstrations in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, as well as any which spring up near to the president's course. The force has asked for support from others around the UK to bolster officer numbers, with both organisations representing senior officers and the rank-and-file claiming there is likely to be an impact on policing across the country for the duration of the visit.
Daily Record
12 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Donald Trump in Scotland LIVE as US President to spend first day at Ayrshire golf course
Donald Trump is expected to spend much of his first day in Scotland on the golf course he owns in South Ayrshire. The US President drew crowds to Prestwick Airport on Friday evening as Air Force One touched down ahead of a four-day visit that will also take him to the club his family owns in Aberdeenshire. With a meeting scheduled with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer understood to be making the trip north on Monday, Mr Trump - a well-known golf enthusiast - appears to be free to play the vaunted Turnberry course on Saturday. Elsewhere, however, Scots will be protesting against the visit. The Stop Trump Coalition has announced demonstrations in Edinburgh - near the American consulate in the Scottish capital - and another in Aberdeen in the days before his visit there. Follow our live blog to keep updated with any developments throughout the day.
Scotsman
2 hours ago
- Scotsman
Trump visit will stretch Police Scotland resources to the limit
When Donald Trump visited his Turnberry resort midway through his first term in office, there was a heavy Police Scotland presence. Picture:Maybe it's pre-Fringe stress but we seem to have entered some bizarre parallel universe. On Wednesday morning I actually found myself agreeing with The Daily Mail. That's never happened before. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Don't worry, I didn't actually buy a copy. I've not gone totally unhinged. I just happened to glance at its front page headline in my local newsagent It was leading with a story about the scandalous waste of public money being spent this weekend by Police Scotland, who are mounting a massive security operation during Donald Trump's visit. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Around 6000 cops are going to be involved in making sure the giant orange jelly baby comes to no harm when he pops into his golf resorts in Turnberry and Aberdeenshire. 'Hear, hear' I thought. 'This is a national disgrace.' And it is. Shouldn't the polis be doing their day job of catching paedophiles, fraudsters and other criminals? Instead they are providing a protective blue line around one particular criminal, because he happens to be the President of the United States. Police Scotland have themselves admitted that their resources will be tested to the limit this weekend, so if someone stole your bike last night don't expect a bobby to come calling round any time before Tuesday or Wednesday when the human pumpkin flies back home. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad How many other offenders get the attention of a whole nation's police force? Unless, of course, the Old Bill are coming out in force to protect the Scottish public from Trump's wandering hands. Of course, Trump is not your average offender. He's also the head of state of a nation with whom the UK enjoys a 'special relationship', but he's not visiting Scotland in that capacity. He's over here to on a golfing holiday. There are a number of reason for this huge police deployment, mainly the numerous demonstrations being held in protest at his visit. At midday today, there will be rallies across Scotland, organised by the Stop Trump Coalition. Huge crowds are expected at the demo here at the American Consulate in Edinburgh, as well as Aberdeen and Dumfries. The fact that Trump is not visiting any of these cities should not stop the public from voicing their anger. Hopefully, if road closures don't keep them out, there will be a huge presence at Turnberry, scene of that famous 2016 protest by the late Janey Godley. Hopefully, many thousands will pay homage by waving banners bearing the slogan 'Trump is a c***'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Humour is an essential weapon against Trump. It's the one thing he can't handle, as can be seen by his attempts to silence American satirists like Jon Stewart and Jimmy Kimmell. CBS announced this week that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will be cancelled when its series ends next May. Catch it online over the next ten months. Many allege this is due to political pressure from the White House. Trump has already tweeted his glee, accusing the host of lacking talent. To which Colbert's response was 'Would an untalented man be able to compose the following satirical witticism? Go f*** yourself.' Those last three words well be on many banners today, I'm sure.
