The UK Parliament was prorogued last week, marking the end of this Parliamentary term. As is the way at Westminster, there is a lot of pomp and ceremony attached to the process, but, in short, prorogation allows the Government to reset parliamentary business. Parliament will recommence on the 10th of May, with the Queen’s Speech …
ARTICLE: I Won’t Give Up on Unfair Energy Prices Read More »
It will not surprise readers that the most pressing issue at Westminster just now is the horrific and unwarranted invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops. Vladimir Putin is a ruthless dictator who is now a war criminal – there can be no doubt of the lengths he will go to get what he wants. It …
ARTICLE: Russian Sanctions Must Go Further and Faster Read More »
Last week saw two publications from the UK Government, both of them were unedifying and deeply unsatisfactory in their own ways. The Sue Gray update, which was supposed to be a complete, unredacted report of the rule-breaking parties at number 10 Downing Street, rightly got a lot of attention in the press. I’ve received hundreds …
Often in the worst of times, we see the best of people. That’s especially true in our communities, where, every day, we see people doing incredible work. In fact, they are so busy helping others it is sometimes too easy to forget just how special they are. I have had the opportunity to celebrate some …
Fuel poverty is everywhere in our community; it hits those who work and those who are unable to; it hits people with disabilities especially hard and has a hugely detrimental effect on affected children. I recently chaired a cross-party inquiry looking into the impact of fuel poverty on people living with a terminal illness. It …
ARTICLE: Fuel Poverty Hits Highlanders as UK Gov Fails to Act Read More »
Government is all about making choices. In his budget, the UK Chancellor had the opportunity to do the decent thing for millions of people affected by the combination of rising costs and income that fails to match it. He chose not to. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said that inflation and higher taxes would …
ARTICLE: How long can we survive shackled to Westminster? Read More »
Even those most fervent in their support for Brexit will find it hard to justify pigs and piglets being slaughtered and burned on farms rather than going into food production. A horrible image amongst punch ups over petrol shortages, rising fuel and food bills and, of course, the cut to the lifeline of Universal Credit …
Panic fuel buying, empty shop shelves, unharvested crops, a collapse in exports and chronic labour shortages are all, in part, or in the case of exports, fully, down to Brexit. Take the disastrous decision to leave the biggest single market globally and end freedom of movement, add in the toxic tory mix of cuts to …
For years women born in the 1950s have been fighting for pension justice, including over 7000 women living here in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey. Despite paying year after year into their pension, over 2.6 million women born in the 1950s have to wait up to an additional two and a half years before they can …
OMIW ARTICLE: UK Govt Must Rectify Errors Made for WASPI Women Read More »
Last week, there was some rare welcome news from the UK Government on my #scrap6months campaign to improve access to welfare support for people living with terminal illnesses. As some of you may recall, back in 2017, I set up a cross-party group on Terminal Illness after hearing about the horrific treatment my constituent received …
