A Week in Parliament

Burns Weekend

This year, unusually I have only attended one Burns Supper to date. It was a local SNP one held at Bellfield Bowling Club. These are the ones I enjoy the most – put on by volunteers and all performers on the night, talented amateurs. The venue, also run by volunteers, provides a reminder of the selfless work people do run these venues and maintain them for the wider use of the community.

On Sunday, I laid a wreath at the Burns Memorial in Mauchline, at an event organised by Mauchline Burns Club. Another fantastic organisation who do so much work keeping the work and knowledge of Robert Burns Alive. I had to confess to having a bit of envy at the skills and talents many of the performers have, that I can only dream about!

Climate change and the environment is rightly a big topical issue just now. There are debates about who was first to recognise the impact of man on the environment and subsequent climate change issues. However, it is amazing to think that in 1785 Robert Burns wrote the poem “To a Mouse” with the lines “I'm truly sorry Man's dominion, Has broken Nature's social union”. There is someone who recognised the impact man had on the environment just in terms of farming techniques back then. When we consider that, it is completely ridiculous that we have some people in Westminster that deny man’s impact on the earth!

Tory Ministerial Visit

The start of the Tory government “love-bombing” of Scotland has commenced. Will Quince MP, a junior DWP Minister visited several constituencies in Glasgow. His activities and social media posts show how the Tories view Scotland. He visited and toured Ibrox: while promoting the Rangers Charity is a good thing, it is so transparently cliched that he chooses only to go to Ibrox where many supporters still fly the Union Jack, and many promote the Union. He then had a couple of media posts about having a deep-fried Mars Bar. Yes, Will, we all eat that here. All the time. So, this is a Tory Ministerial view of how to engage with and promote Scotland. Is this type of activity really going to convince a majority of Scots that we are a valued member of the Union?

Broadband

I was disappointed the Scottish Government has had to admit their proposals for 100% broadband will now take two years longer to roll out. However, we need to remember this is a reserved matter. Of the £600m programme, only £21m has come from Westminster. Imagine how much better we would be advanced if Westminster stepped up its contribution? Meanwhile, the UK Tory Government are ducking and diving on a commitment to deliver gigabit broadband to every home by 2025. The language has changed to “gigabit-capable” networks, so I fear rural areas will continue to be ignored by the UK Government. They also seem to be relying on the 10MB/sec universal service obligation rollout which is also too unambitious. I will continue to pursue this matter.