The Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) met the Scottish Labour Party to hear direct from representatives about ideas they are formulating ahead of important elections and to explain the role of merchants and the Federation itself in the building materials’ supply chain.
Graham Bolton, BMF regional manager, and Brett Amphlett, BMF policy manager met with Labour representatives from both Scotland and the UK and spoke to MSPs who serve on the Cross-Party Group on construction. The main meeting was with James Kelly MSP and Gordon Banks MP.
Mr Bolton updated the Scottish Labour Party on BMF activity in the region and explained how membership has steadily grown in the last 12 months. Numbers have risen from 12 merchant members a year ago to over 30 today. Mr Bolton was also able to share news from merchants with Mr Kelly MSP, who speaks for his party on construction, infrastructure and housing in the Scottish Parliament, having taken soundings with BMF’s Scottish members prior to the meeting.
Mr Amphlett talked to MPs who represent constituencies in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Ayrshire in the House of Commons at Westminster. One topic of conversation was the Coalition government’s changes to the Energy Company Obligation - the so-called ‘green levies rollback’ - that energy suppliers must meet. This is directly relevant to Scotland as two of the big six energy firms are Scottish.
The importance of the current political agenda led the BMF to draft its own policy manifesto. For the first time, the Federation has set down the key issues that it would like to see addressed. Many of these points were discussed during these meetings.
The BMF will be promoting The BMF Policy Manifesto to politicians and their executive officers throughout the country. If you would like a copy, you can download it from www.bmf.org.uk.
