LAST Tuesday, I successfully proposed an amendment to the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill which will protect local and national organisations from implementing a visitor levy.

I had engaged with both Kip and James Watt Dock marinas to have ‘boat moorings or berthings’ removed from the bill.

The amendment not only helps marinas but also smaller boat clubs. I’m pleased the Scottish Government engaged and listened to the concerns beforehand and subsequently agreed to the amendment.

Also on Tuesday, but in the Commons, my SNP colleagues voted against the UK Government Budget that will see public services suffer from £18bn in cuts. Sadly, both Labour and Lib Dem MPs went home and didn’t vote. Not one single Labour MP voted on Tuesday night on these Budget measures which includes a reduction in the higher rate of capital gains tax to 24 per cent for residential property gains.

So as the SNP stood up for the people of Scotland, voting against a UK Budget that fails to help people with the cost-of-living crisis, fails to invest in public services, in jobs, in action on climate change and bakes in austerity, Labour and Lib Dems went home.

Labour’s absence from the House of Commons shows up their rhetoric about being the party of the people as nothing but utter nonsense. If they are not prepared to vote against another austerity Tory UK Budget, then the claims from the IFS about the Tories and Labour being involved in a ‘conspiracy of silence’ about future cuts certainly rings true.

This only compounds the folly of Labour foisting an 8.2 per cent council tax hike on Inverclyde households.