Glasgow Central Constituency - Osama Saeed
 

SNP PPC Osama Saeed today challenged Glasgow Central MP Mohammad Sarwar to state whether or not he supports trade Secretary Peter Mandelson's plans for Royal Mail part privatisation.

Mr Sarwar has signed an early day motion apparently opposing the plan, but Saeed points out that he made similar gestures last year on the closure of post offices, but did not rebel when the time came to vote in the House of Commons.

Osama Saeed said: "Since coming back into the fold, Peter Mandelson has already divided Labour with plans for Royal Mail that even Mrs Thatcher wouldn't have dared put forward.

"The SNP totally oppose this proposal. It will inevitably mean more loss of services and more loss of jobs.

Osama Saeed, the SNP's prospective parliamentary candidate for Glasgow Central, has today slammed the "thirty years of subterfuge" from successive Westminster governments following new revelations on Scotland's oil wealth.

New archive material in today's Times reveal plans to delay devolution, to manipulate the politics of Shetland and Orkney, and to redraw offshore boundaries. The full article can be read here.

Saeed, commenting on the papers, said: "Today's revelations are absolutely extraordinary, there's even throwbacks to good old fashion colonialism with the 'divide and rule' plan to encourage mini independent states in Orkney and Shetland.

Osama Saeed has today welcomed the Scottish Government's announcement of £428,000 to be given to aid agencies working in Gaza.

The SNP's prospective parliamentary candidate for Glasgow Central had previously called for money to be given to Islamic Relief and others working in the region.

Commenting, Saeed said: "The Scottish Government's response to the crisis has been to do whatever was in their power to help. Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon announced while the bombing was taking place that Scottish hospitals would respond to any request for assistance.

"Now, this substantial monetary contribution will help with much needed aid, relief and development in the bomb hit and starved region.

The SNP's Glasgow Central candidate Osama Saeed has expressed his deep concern that the UK Government is considering the privatisation of Royal Mail.

Lord Mandelson this week appeared before a House of Commons committee and very noticeably did not explicitly deny his support for privatisation when quizzed by MPs.

Osama Saeed has been a long-time supporter of postal services. He opposed the recent closure of post offices in the constituency including the services in Govanhill, the High Street and Anderston. This was in contrast to the Labour MP for the constituency, Mohammad Sarwar, who voted in the House of Commons for the closures to take place.

The SNP’s national conference this year backed a motion calling for extra resources to be directed to Govanhill.

The resolution noted with concern "the problems of overcrowding, antisocial behaviour, and below tolerable standards housing in the Govanhill neighbourhood of Glasgow" and welcomed the recent Oxfam report on the Roma community of Govanhill, which linked the problems in the area to "the exploitation of vulnerable residents, in particular new Roma EU migrants, by slum landlords and unscrupulous gangmasters."

The resolution also welcomed the recent petition by Govanhill Housing Association head Anne Lear to Scottish Parliament and urged the Scottish Parliament to seek solutions in Govanhill.

Osama Saeed, SNP Westminster candidate for Glasgow Central, has condemned current MP Mohammed Sarwar for voting in favour of PM Gordon Brown's controversial proposal to extend pre-charge detention for terror suspects to 42 days, which passed this week by a slim margin.

"Sarwar told the world a couple of months ago that he’d learned his lesson and he wouldn’t be voting for dismantling our liberties again. Now he has uturned on his uturn.

"He said that Muslims would be angry about 42 days and on that he was right. When he previously voted for control orders, he was heckled in the mosque.