AS THE General Election campaign got into full swing the first of the election hustings took place this week.

 

The first, organised by Glasgow City Mission, had an audience made up mainly of homeless people.

During the debate two things became clear.

Firstly, that there is a real enthusiasm and interest in political discussion, with people knowing that who wins this General Election will really matter to the people of Glasgow.

There was a really good turnout, some great questions and lively debate.

But the second thing that became clear, was that only the Scottish Labour Party have a set of concrete and costed policies that will make a real difference to people living in Glasgow and across the UK.

Labour will put an end to Tory austerity.

Instead, we will bring back the 50p top rate of tax for everyone earning over £150,000 while at the same time helping low paid workers by having a new 10p rate of tax for the lowest paid.

Labour will help make work pay by increasing the National Minimum Wage to £8 and supporting employers who pay their workers the Living Wage, helping to make a real difference in people's pay packets.

And we will ban the use of exploitative zero-hours contracts.

If workers do regular hours then they should have a regular contract, just like everyone else.

And Labour will also tackle household bills. Energy Bills have risen almost as quickly as energy company profits.

That's not fair on households struggling to pay the bills and feed the kids.

That is why Labour will cap energy bills, meaning they can come down but not go up.

And we will reform the broken energy market, taking on the big six energy companies so that never again can they rip-off families in Glasgow.

This is the real change only Labour can deliver.

But to the surprise of everyone present the SNP candidate could not name a single SNP policy that would make a difference to the lives of people in this great city.

Not a single practical measure to help Glasgow's young people get a job or apprenticeship, not a single policy to tackle the cost of living or put more money into the pay packets of workers and into the pockets of individuals and families.

I am sure that lack of policy and a real lack of ambition for this city was why Labour won in the poll at the end of the debate.

And for Glasgow to get rid of the Tories in May, we need to stop the Tories being the largest party.

That is why every Labour vote and every Labour MP elected makes a difference to whether we will have five more years of Tory austerity or more jobs, better pay and fairer taxes with Scottish Labour.