Monday

I had a meeting with a representative of Cancer Research UK to discuss the legislation on tobacco and vapes.

I was in the chamber for questions to the Department for Work and Pensions. I was not on the paper but I ‘bobbed’ to be taken. There were two questions on the paper that I wanted taken on. The first is about the JobCentre industrial action and the second on WASPI.

I was taken for DWP and I sought assurance from the minister that anyone missing an appointment because of industrial action will not be sanctioned.

I dropped in to a dementia awareness session organised by the Geller Commission.

I attended a very busy debate in Westminster Hall on the Palestinian Visa Scheme.

The UK Government says there are safe routes ignoring the fact that they are broken beyond repair. We need a new system set up as we did for Ukraine and previously Hong Kong.

At the close of the evening, unusually, the UK Government lost a vote. It was a free vote with no whips applied. This resulted in the government not passing their own bill on ‘risk-based exclusions’ which was widely seen as watering down the measures that ensure members can be excluded from parliament at the point of arrest for serious sexual or violent offences.

Tuesday

The All Party Parliamentary Group on ‘choice at end of life’ took expert evidence from an anaesthetist who manages end of life care in Australia and also from a woman whose brother had taken advantage of that service to end his own life after being diagnosed terminally ill. There are strict guidelines as to who qualifies and what procedures can be followed. There is no such legislation in the UK but there is a bill going through the Scottish Parliament. It’s at committee stage and is, I believe, the third attempt at this since 2010.

My select committee took evidence from three members of the House of Lords regarding potential reform. We had one Labour, one Conservative and one hereditary cross bencher. They all agreed that reform is required but all stopped short of committing to any!

Wednesday

I met with the joint chairs of Reform. We continue to work together to lobby parliamentarians to become better informed about drug use, testing, criminalisation and education. PMQs was the usual bunfight between two grown adults.

I met with the Trussell Trust to hear about their operation in Inverclyde and UK wide.

At an interesting Alzheimer’s event I took the opportunity to ask experts about early onset of dementia and the role society plays.

On the terrace the shipping industry was lobbying MPs. They highlighted the fact that 95 per cent of goods enter and exit the UK via shipping and that it supports 85,000 jobs in Scotland.

I chaired the APPG on commercial sexual exploitation. The meeting was setup to scrutinise the recent OFCOM report on age assurance and other ‘part 5’ duties for service providers publishing pornographic content on online services, and guidance relating to human trafficking. The APPG was particularly interested in regulating the service providers and age verification.

Thursday

First meeting was the Inverclyde Taskforce. It was good to hear about the vision that Peel Ports have for Inchgreen. It has been a long time coming but a positive outcome is on the horizon. And I look forward to welcoming the new cranes for the container terminal which will further enhance the facility there.

This was quickly followed by the Ferguson Marine summit with Kate Forbes MSP. The yard is crucial to the community and hopefully there will be more investment and a healthy order book soon.

In the evening, I hosted Man On! Inverclyde in my parliamentary office.

Friday

I had one of my regular catch ups with NHS GGC where out of hours coverage was discussed along with other issues.

I met with the Heritage Lottery Fund to talk about funding for Inverclyde. On Saturday I shall be dropping in to the Inverclyde Heritage Network Fair at the Watt Institute and attending the Gaza vigil for a ceasefire in Gourock.