LAST Thursday, the Scottish Parliament passed the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences (Scotland) Bill.

The legislation will automatically exonerate people who were wrongly convicted because of the discredited Horizon IT system.

Sometimes in politics, legislation is passed that you know straight away that it will help constituents who have been wronged. This is one of those occasions and I was pleased to vote for it.

A further announcement last week was the additional investment of up to £8.8 million to be used to rollout the Closed Loop System technology to support all children living with Type 1 Diabetes. These systems will be life changing. I have had constituents contact me about diabetes care, including this system, so appreciate the importance of this additional investment.

The third item I want to highlight is that of the economy which has been challenging due to austerity, Brexit and the wider cost of living crisis.

Scotland’s onshore GDP grew by 0.4 per cent in March 2024. Also, in the first quarter of 2024 - the three months to March - GDP is estimated to have grown by 0.7 per cent compared to the previous three month period. I highlight this as its vital we have a strong economy to collect revenue and taxes to invest in public services.

The result of the upcoming election is clearly vital with regards to Inverclyde and Scotland. When Conservative MP’s and former MP’s can cross the floor over to Labour with great ease, it’s obvious to me that no matter who will be living in Downing Street, austerity 2.0 will be inflicted on us.