Two weeks ago I received the honour of being re-elected as the MP for Aberdeen North and immediately got back to work starting new cases helping people I had spoken to during the general election campaign. In fact, at the election count I was approached by a constituent looking for help.
My office, on John Street, is not home to politics and power – it has and always will be a place where people in Aberdeen come in to speak to me and my staff about any sudden and life-changing crisis they are facing. Every day, we help people with their problems. These range from contacting the council to request they fix a broken streetlight to supporting refugees with their asylum claim to helping disabled constituents access the support they require. My office and I put helping people with their issues at the heart of everything we do. Often that means shining a spotlight on the problems in systems that are supposed to support the most vulnerable, but instead are consistently failing them.
We read about swings to the left and right of politics and opinion polls, but that can distract us from the reality that the austerity-obsessed UK Government still has a stronghold on our society. A lot has changed over the past two weeks, and yet too much has stayed the same.
In the past fortnight I have already supported appeals from foodbanks and charities in Aberdeen that are absolutely desperate for food and clothing donations. Just this week I have raised the hideous Personal Independence Payment assessments that are rendering disabled and vulnerable constituents of mine impoverished and scared, despite the fact those tests are costing the Department for Work and Pensions more money than it saves the government overall.
It is clear that the obsession with austerity is ideological. It is an attack on those who are most vulnerable in our society. Social security should be the safety net it was designed to be, but instead the UK Government is systematically dismantling this. What so many people don’t realise about our support systems is how many of them are used by people who are in work but on a low income. Child tax credits for example are being cut which is forcing families who don’t earn a lot of money to squeeze every penny and sometimes they still cannot afford the most basic requirements for their children, such as food and clothing.
Amidst all of this of course is that fact that negotiations to determine the future laws and regulations of trade, employment, human rights, and security are being headed up by a prime minister her team who have a record of shunning their day job to pursue a power-hungry snap election that was a disaster for them. This week in parliament we heard a lacklustre Queen’s Speech which contained no commitment to giving the Scottish Government a seat at the table for Brexit negotiations nor did it prioritise our industries or vested European interests. Be in no doubt, Scotland will be directly and significantly impacted by whatever agreement is struck with the EU and we have to be represented by elected Scottish Government representatives who will always put Scotland’s interests first.
We are incredibly fortunate to have prominent people in the north-east of Scotland who are leaders in fields of oil and gas, renewable energy, fisheries, farming, food and drink, tourism, academia – among many others. All of those sectors, which we have built a strong local economy on that is diversifying by the day, will be affected by crucial talks with our European partners over the next two years. With so much at stake the UK Government should have a clear and coherent plan for what future trade will look like, yet again and again threadbare soundbites are rolled out in place of strategy.
Reading back the Queen’s Speech anyone can see for themselves the contradictions and empty phrasing that lacks any tangible policy or course of action. The UK Government intends to grab power from the Scottish Parliament and has its head firmly in the sand over rising inflation and the lack of wage growth that we are seeing. We know that Brexit could result in the loss of 80,000 jobs in Scotland alone. The UK Government needs to reflect on the result of the election and do its utmost to protect single market membership.
One of the stranger traditions of successive Labour or Tory or Tory/Lib Dem UK governments has been the merry-go-round of energy ministers, and this week saw just that with the appointment of the 19th energy minister in just 19 years. It is clear that supporting energy sectors is not top of the agenda for the Tories as leaked documents show the oil and gas industry is classed as a “low priority” for Brexit negotiations.
Over the past two years we saw subsidies for renewable technology slashed and, without warning, the cancellation of one of the most ground-breaking energy technology competitions in the UK – the Carbon Capture Storage programme. Theresa May is all talk and no action when it comes to giving due support and attention to our vital energy sectors, and appointing yet another new face to the energy minister brief shows that. The oil and gas industry alone has paid more than £330billion in taxes to the UK Treasury. The UK Government needs to get a grip and realise they should be supporting businesses, not expecting them to get to know new representatives at the drop of hat on a near annual basis.
Although the weather tends to be unpredictable in Aberdeen, I’ve got my eye on good outdoor activities for kids in and around the city. I know my two will be keen to spend some time watching TV during the holidays, but we all love getting out of the house together.
Last weekend we ventured out with the countryside ranger service to go on the hunt for mini-beasties in the tall grass. It was brilliant to see my two running about with giant nets catching bugs in the sun – in an area of outside space I didn’t even know existed. The countryside rangers do lots of great free activities for wee ones, including pond dipping and rock pooling. Aberdeen Play forum also runs free activities through the summer and there are loads of free festivals and galas that are a brilliant way to get out of the house. And don’t forget, if the weather is grim, local libraries are really child-friendly these days.