the SNP

The week ahead is the one when the election campaign gets serious. The phoney war is over and the simple choice will start to become clear – in just over a fortnight people across the country will cast their votes to determine which party will form the government at Holyrood and who will be Scotland’s First Minister.

Scotland’s communities have distinct needs – but all deserve the same opportunity to thrive.

In government the SNP has taken strong action to support the needs of rural Scotland. If re-elected an SNP Scottish Government will continue to be a champion for all of Scotland’s communities.

When the Scottish Parliament passed the Land Reform Act earlier this year I made it clear that I did not see this as the end of the road. As Nicola Sturgeon announced today, the next step in Scotland’s land reform journey will be to improve transparency on land ownership.

I was the first in my family to go to university. Growing up in a working class community, this wasn’t something that was very common but was made possible by my mother’s high ambitions for her children and the influence of inspirational teachers.

With the closure of 17 schools in Edinburgh due to safety concerns, all SNP candidates in Edinburgh will work to represent the interest of pupils and parents – and get them the answers they deserve.

In government, we have a strong track record in making sure Scotland is an attractive place for businesses to invest and grow – but we want to do more.

We’ve already put in place the most competitive business tax environment in the UK, with the number of registered business in Scotland at a record-high, and Scotland is consistently ranked in the top two regions outside of London for foreign direct investment.

This is a great day for Lanarkshire.

Steel in Scotland – and in the UK – has a future. But it needs the right support from politicians. Not for the first time, the Tories at Westminster seem content to abandon an iconic industry to its fate – but the SNP’s approach in Scotland could not have been more different.

Sanjeev Gupta, the executive chair of Liberty House, has praised the efforts of the Scottish Government and Scottish Enterprise in helping this deal go through.

The election campaign is now in full swing, and already clear dividing lines are emerging between the main political parties.

I’ve being out speaking to people in towns and cities all across Scotland – and of course I am spending a lot of time on the doorsteps of Glasgow Southside.

Campaigning in Dumfriesshire with our candidate Joan McAlpine was the next stop on my campaign trail.

The first visit of the day was to Doonhamers Boxing Club where Joan and I met some of its users. We got the chance to hear about the club and catch up up with the Scottish welterweight title holder, Dennis Broadhurst, and his coach, Anne Armstrong.

The top priority of voters is making sure that our NHS fit for the future – and it will be our top priority too.

The NHS is our most cherished public service. In government we have a record of achievement to be proud of. Patients are now getting some of the best and fastest treatment of anywhere in the UK, with a record NHS budget and more staff than ever before. But there is much more to do.

Getting the Northern and Western Isles connected to the UK grid is absolutely crucial to their economic future, and for some time the Scottish and UK Governments have been working jointly to make this happen.

I had thought that the UK Government were as committed as we are. UK Energy Minister Andrea Leadsom attended the Islands Delivery Working Group last autumn, and the Prime Minister personally pledged his own support for the connection of the isles in a letter to Angus Campbell of Western Isles Council.

Mental illness is one of the most important public health issues in Scotland today, with around one in three people affected by mental health issues in a given year. That’s why, in government, the SNP has made improving mental health services a priority.

Today marks the close of nominations for the Scottish Parliament elections. With the SNP campaign across the country stepping up a gear I am immensely proud of the team of candidates who will represent our party.

The SNP is putting forward a team of candidates who reflect Scotland. Our candidates have experience working in education, nursing, mental health, business and the third sector. And while there is still more to do, we have made real and welcome progress on gender balance – with more women than ever before standing for the party on both the constituency and regional list.

April 1st marks the day that many policy changes come into force, as a result of the Scottish budget passed by the SNP Government and the UK budget passed by the Tories. It also marks the day that tax hikes proposed by Labour and the Tories would have come into effect – but were blocked by the SNP.

We all want Scotland’s children to get the best start in life. Undoubtedly, parents and families are best placed to provide that for their children.

However, it is not always possible, no matter how hard we might try, to predict in advance which children might become vulnerable. The Named Person policy is an important part of trying to ensure that when things are not going well for children, something is done about it.

As a teacher I know there are often a number of barriers to young people entering the workforce. That’s why I’m delighted that developing the skills of our young people and getting them into good, well-paid work is at the heart of our plans to create a prosperous and inclusive economy.

Youth employment in Scotland is the highest of any country in the UK but we want to go further and have set the ambitious goal of reducing youth unemployment by 40 per cent by 2021.

There’s much more we want to do. If re-elected, an SNP government will ensure our young people have the skills to put them at the cutting edge of the economy and jobs market.

Steel defines the community in which I live and has been central to my family’s own story. It was what brought my grandfather over from Ireland in the 1920s and it was the closure of Ravenscraig, after a decade of Thatcher government, that provided the catalyst for my involvement in the SNP.

If a government cannot afford to give dignity to disabled people in our society, then it cannot and should not have respect.

Westminster’s attacks on welfare – driven by their ideological pursuit of austerity, not by compassion or even common sense – threaten serious and lasting harm to some of the most vulnerable people in Scotland and across the UK.

The moment that Thursday night’s televised leaders’ debate came alive for me – and perhaps the moment at which the Holyrood election campaign came alive – was when the discussion turned to welfare, and specifically the events which have seen the near implosion of the Tory cabinet at Westminster following the resignation of Iain Duncan Smith.

As the youth ambassador for our Scottish Parliament election campaign, I’ll be visiting Holyrood constituencies across Scotland in the run up to the 5th May.

The first stop on my campaign tour was Edinburgh Northern and Leith to meet our candidate Ben Macpherson. A great afternoon of visits were organised by Ben and his team and I was very excited to meet everyone.

Since 1999 the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey has been asking people across Scotland their views on how the country is run.

The 2015 survey was published last week. Here’s our summary:

The new Work and Pension Secretary Stephen Crabb’s first statement to Parliament confirmed that drastic cuts to disability benefits announced in last week’s budget will now not go ahead.

While this is welcome news in the short-term, it will be of little comfort to the many thousands of disabled people who have already found themselves stripped of vital welfare support. The statement also raises some important unanswered questions.

Austerity from the current Tory Government at Westminster is a policy choice, not a necessity.

The Conservatives’ continued obsession with austerity is ideological and one which chooses to turn a blind eye to the impact upon the most vulnerable in our society.

This week the Scottish Parliament unanimously approved the new Scotland Bill powers.

The new powers will be delivered without a single penny of detriment to the Scottish budget, after the First Minister and Deputy First Minister saw off the Tory Treasury’s attempts to cut Scotland’s budget by £7 billion.

It is inexcusable that, in the twenty-first century, we still effectively tax women for menstruating.

Today the Scottish Parliament passed the Private Housing Bill, fulfilling the SNP’s commitment to reform the private rented sector. This Bill will provide security, stability and predictability for 700,000 tenants in Scotland while providing appropriate safeguards for landlords, lenders and investors.

Yesterday the Scottish Parliament passed the radical and wide-ranging Land Reform Bill – a piece of legislation that is at the heart of the SNP’s agenda for transforming Scotland.

Today George Osborne delivered his budget for the year ahead. Here’s what he’d rather you didn’t know.