Lib Dem deputy leader Vince Cable is latest big hitter to back schools' campaign

Feb 26 2009 By Frank Hurley

A POLITICAL big gun has thrown his weight behind the people's campaign to stop large-scale closures of primary and nursery schools in Glasgow

Vince Cable, MP and the Lib-Dem's deputy leader, went back to his former council ward in the city to meet and support campaigners.

Dr Cable, who once represented the Wyndford area for Labour on the city's council, was in Glasgow to protest at the threatened closure of two schools at the heart of the community he used to represent.

The Lib-Dems shadow chancellor, met parents of St Gregory 's and Wyndford Primary Schools pupils when he came to sign the petition against closure out side the school gates on Saturday.

As he looked round the school and spoke to parents, Dr Cable said: "It is a very sad day when a Labour council is depriving people of educational opportunity on their doorstep.

"I used to be the councillor for this area and I know that the people of the Wyndford care about both their primary schools.

"When I heard about the threat to schools in my former ward, I was determined to come in person to join the chorus of protest against this ill-thought out proposal, which will have a damaging financial impact on local families.

"My colleague Katy Gordon has worked really hard with local parents to get the whole community involved in the fight to save Wyndford and St Gregory's.

"I am delighted to put my name to the petition and I will also be filling in the consultation form and sending it back to the council."

Katy Gordon, Westminster spokeswoman for Lib-Dems in Glasgow North, said: "I was so pleased to get a call from Vince asking to come and join the protest in person. The more we can do to help save the school the better.

"If Wyndford and St Gregory's close, there will be no primary school in the area and the heart will have been ripped out of the community.

"At 58 per cent occupancy, Wyndford is far higher than the 40 per cent the city council say is the trigger for closure.

"I have spoken to several mums and dads who say they just won't be able to afford the extra bus fares to take their children to the proposed alternative schools.

"One parent has even told me she might have to give up work to get her child to school and back on time.

"Wyndford residents deserve better. The council should think again and stop the threat to Wyndford and St Gregory's."

Dr Cable was a Labour Cllr for the ward covering the Wyndford area in Glasgow from 1971 to 74

Glasgow City Council criteria for closure includes the size of school roll and the condition of building, plus possible effect on local community.

Of the 13 primaries threatened with closure, Wyndford has a 58 per cent occupancy rate compared with GCC which stated average of 40 per cent for those marked for closure.

The protesters say that the two schools currently share a campus and are extensively used by local community groups.

They say that if Wyndford and St Gregory's close, there would be NO primary school left in the local area. This allegedly goes against the council's policy of not creating negative impacts on areas which suffer from deprivation GCC state in the consultation documents that this type of reorganisation would usually entail new build schools, but there isn't the funding available to support this currently.