ON Tuesday, I spoke in the Scottish Government’s debate on the latest Building a New Scotland paper, titled ‘An Independent Scotland’s Place in the World’.

This paper sets out the Scottish Government’s vision for an independent Scotland in the world – one where Scotland takes its place in the international community; alongside 193 other United Nations member states, able to join the European Union, with the powers necessary to protect its citizens and prosper in the global economy.

Independence would also mean that Scotland gets to determine the type of state it wants to be on that world stage – choosing to be a good global citizen that acts based on its values and principles, promotes human rights and development, and builds partnerships with other countries and international organisations to address global challenges.

Importantly, the paper sets out how an independent Scotland will be nuclear-free – and what Scotland’s defence and security capabilities would be.

It outlines how, by independence day, a comprehensive, expert-led Defence and Security Review would be completed, ensuring that we develop the capabilities needed to protect and defend our borders, citizens and democracy.

The armed forces of an independent Scotland would comprise land, sea, and air components overseen by a Joint Forces Headquarters.

Following negotiations, an independent Scotland would inherit significant military establishments and infrastructure. These establishments would support the armed forces of an independent Scotland and, with agreement, would also continue to be available to our international partners.

I welcome this latest paper and would once again encourage people to read these papers which explains how an independent Scotland can prosper and grow, rather than continuing to be held back by Brexit Britain.

In other news, I want to welcome the £66,000 investment from the Scottish Government to enable NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to continue its ‘Thrive Under Five’ programme – which supports projects in the health board area that work with families to prevent childhood obesity and reduce health inequalities.

This project has been piloted in one early years establishment in Port Glasgow, to support children under the age of five to achieve a healthy weight by tackling the issue of food insecurity. It also provides families with the resources and knowledge to make healthier choices around food and money management.

Therefore, parents are asked to participate in a financial wellbeing assessment to ensure they are maximising their income from social security. Parents are also given the opportunity to open a local credit union account for both them and their child and they will be engaged to actively participate in future credit union savings.

These are positive interventions that are benefitting local children and families during the cost-of-living crisis something a council tax freeze would have aided but sadly was rejected by Labour councillors and councillors McKenzie and McVey.