I was delighted to welcome eleven volunteers from Lo’gelly Lunches tothe Scottish Parliament this week for a tour and to discuss their ongoing concerns about the lack of food security for individuals. The volunteers have been running Lo’gelly Lunches since 2019, which organises a weekly space every Tuesday between 11:00 and 13:00 for local people […]
I am calling on the Scottish Government to remove free bus passes from young people using them to engage in violent, abusive and antisocial behaviour amidst a rise in reports of bus drivers being subjected to verbal and physical attacks. I also took the opportunity to call for the Scottish Government to engage with Unite […]
I raised the concerns of teaching unions that there is a “lack of response and action” on disruptive pupil behaviour in Fife in a question to Education Secretary, Jenny Gilruth MSP, in the Scottish parliament. I asked when the Education Secretary will move beyond plans and guidance and start to look at what resources are […]
I have raised a motion in the Scottish Parliament and written to the Scottish Government calling for more to be done to provide greater transparency on food origin labelling. Conclusions from a recent widespread consumer survey, conducted on behalf of National Farmers Union (NFU) Scotland found that “the current regulations, policy, and practice in relation […]
I have written to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, Angela Constance MSP, raising my concerns that members of the police force will be taken advantage of as service police officers prepare to work to rule in “withdrawal of good will” action over pay negotiations. The Scottish Police Federation have called on Scottish […]
The Scottish Government suffered an embarrassing defeat over their plans to reintroduce peak fares on ScotRail services as the Scottish Parliament supported a motion I amended calling for the decision to be reversed. I was successful in passing my amendment by 64 votes to 62. This followed another embarrassing defeat for the Scottish Government over […]
I have written to the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Fiona Hyslop MSP, to ask her to work collaboratively to find a solution to the antisocial behaviour that is plaguing Scotland’s bus services. I have asked the Transport Secretary to arrange a summit that brings together the key stakeholders – trade unions, bus operators, the Scottish […]
I have called for the Scottish Government to urgently intervene in the ongoing college lecturers pay dispute as the new academic year fast approaches. My call came after the announcement of a further two weeks of strike action at the start of the new academic year by trade union EIS-FELA after a successful reballoting of […]
The British Sign Language (Scotland) Act passed in 2015 and requires public bodies to prepare a BSL Plan every six years. The Scottish Parliament has recently launched an online consultation on a new BSL Plan, approaching its 2nd iteration, which can be accessed through the link below. If you have interest in BSL please feel […]
In a debate on improving Scotland’s roads in the Scottish parliament I accused the SNP government of causing suffering to drivers, cyclists and pedestrians over the conditions of roads across the country due to chronic underfunding of local authorities. The debate comes as recent Freedom of Information requests show the total estimated cost of the […]