A CAMPAIGN to keep a closure-threatened Catholic primary school open has received political backing.
Families fighting to save St Joseph's Primary School, in Milngavie, on the outskirts of Glasgow, have attracted support from a Labour candidate for the next Scottish Parliament election.
Clydebank councillor Gail Casey, who will stand for the Clydebank and Milngavie constituency in 2016, has urged Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy to get behind the campaign just days before he meets parents.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has already met with members of the St Joseph's parent council and promised to consider their plan to save the school by taking it into community control.
Mrs Casey said: "St Joseph's is a fantastic school and it belongs in Milngavie. I urge Jim Murphy to listen carefully to the parents and do everything he can to persuade East Dunbartonshire Council to come forward with different proposals.
"The Labour Party is under new leadership and that should give us an opportunity for some fresh thinking. Every child in Milngavie deserves the right to be educated in their own community."
Helen Williams, vice-chairwoman of the St Joseph's parent council, welcomed the intervention.
She said: "It is great to see the campaign to keep St Joseph's in Milngavie winning support from right across the political spectrum.
"When Jim Murphy meets parents he will get to hear for himself how important our school is to our community. This is his chance to show real leadership on an issue that matters to people."
Campaigners from St Joseph's took the unprecedented step of contacting Ms Sturgeon about running the school themselves after accusing the council of failing to provide denominational education in their area.
Although state-funded schools run by independent trusts are common in England, there is no provision in Scotland for something similar, although a handful of grant-maintained schools do exist, including Jordanhill, in Glasgow's west end, which is one of the top performing schools in Scotland.
There is nothing in legislation that says such schools cannot exist in future, but neither is there a legal mechanism in place to set up such a school.
St Joseph's is the only Catholic primary in Milngavie and the Catholic Church has previously described the plan as a "serious deterioration" in denominational provision.
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