Renters must get help in the Budget as 999 workers struggle to afford living in major cities

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It's unacceptable that paramedics and other 999 workers can no longer afford to live in our major cities due to rent rises. One ambulance crew member has told how he is paying almost £500 more per month in rent after receiving an eviction notice on his previous tenancy in August.

He now pays a staggering £1200 a month to live near his 999 base in Glasgow. Ambulance workers often work long shifts, often starting or finishing in the early hours of the morning when there is little public transport available. It stands to reason that emergency service workers need to stay relatively close to their places of work.

But the rise and rise in the cost of rental properties, particularly in Scotland’s biggest cities, has made this an unaffordable dream to many. Scotland’s housing crisis is driven by several factors but a major one is the severe lack of social housing.

Too few affordable homes are being built and the end result is a massive increase in demand for private rentals. The SNP -led Scottish Government made a bad situation even worse when it cut £196million from the affordable housing budget last year.

Ordinary people now cannot afford to live a reasonable distance from their workplaces. We need affordable housing in cities so that key workers can have a place to live that doesn’t leave them financially crippled.

In next month’s Scottish Budget, FM John Swinney has an opportunity to fix this crisis. We hope he takes it – for the sake of renters across Scotland.

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Prezza was a hero

John Prescott was a towering figure in the Labour movement who made a real difference to people’s lives. Tony Blair’s deputy made sure the New Labour project had working people at its heart. He held together the Government when allies of Blair and Gordon Brown indulged in feuding.

More importantly, Prescott was also a rare example of a working-class man rising to the top of politics. “Prezza” was a former ferry steward before entering parliament to serve the people of Hull.

Trade unionism defined hispolic politics and he was a decades-long champion of workers’ rights in parliament. John was also a character who got embroiled in famous spats, most notoriously when he threw a punch at an egg-throwing protester on the campaign trail.

But despite the rough exterior, Prescott was a key figure in the New Labour project – which still divides opinion but undoubtedly reshaped the country for the better after years of Thatcherism.

And in a world of identikit politicians who have never had a real job, parliaments in Edinburgh and London could do with more people like John Prescott.

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