I HOPE everyone had a brilliant summer, although I know it will now feel like a distant memory.

I’ve been busy catching up with constituency enquiries, attending meetings and holding regular advice surgeries.

I am also excited to be joining Marie McNair MSP for a joint surgery in Centre 81 on September.

Please get in touch for an appointment. 

A lot has happened in West Dunbartonshire over the last few months - we now have a new Labour MP who was elected on a campaign of fighting injustice and bringing “change”.

Therefore, I was disappointed that he turned down one of the first opportunities to make meaningful difference by voting against the SNP’s amendment to scrap the two-child benefit cap – one of Westminster’s cruellest policies.

In West Dunbartonshire alone, 560 households in receipt of Universal Credit or Child Tax Credits (64 per cent of recipients) are not receiving financial support for at least one child because of this Labour Government’s cap during a time when the Westminster-made cost of living crisis is impacting more than ever. 

I understand the difficult financial circumstances and hard decisions that need to be made as a result.

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However, I would be more sympathetic if Labour hadn’t been so dishonest during their election campaign - calling the SNP liars when we highlighted the cuts under Labour’s spending plans and claiming, as Anas Sarwar infamously said: “Read my lips: no austerity under Labour”. 

Regardless, this horrific policy has no place, which is why I seconded a motion at last month’s full council calling on the UK Government to scrap it immediately.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t supported by Labour along with two independents and therefore didn’t pass.

At this meeting, we also elected Councillor Karen Murray-Conaghan as our new provost - the first ever woman to hold this position in West Dunbartonshire.

Karen’s knowledge and compassion makes her the perfect fit and I know she’ll do a fantastic job. 

I was, however, shocked that Karen’s election combined with two councillors leaving the Labour group resulted in Labour announcing that they are abandoning the administration - despite still being the biggest party with 10/22 councillors. 

They claim that because they no longer have a majority, they do not have sufficient numbers to pass a budget. 

However, this is completely false as 30/32 Scottish local authorities have majority administrations made up of single parties, our voting system is designed to produce more proportional results and encourage cross-party working.

It’s clear that Labour has thrown their toys out of the pram and are only thinking about themselves, as this dereliction of duty and uncertainty significantly impacts our constituents and employees.

They should all be deeply embarrassed and ashamed of their behaviour.