We need to make the next five years count
The last few weeks have been an absolute whirlwind as I find my feet in my new role as Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley’s new Member of the Scottish Parliament.
It is an absolute privilege to be representing the folk of CCDV in this pivotal time of recovery and renewal.
We have all experienced a very traumatic and trying year and our reserves are running on empty.
This weekend we have seen the first real glimpses of spring sunshine and warmth and coupled with the relaxation of restrictions, spirits were being lifted all around.
As your new MSP, my focus will be on helping to steer the constituency out of the pandemic whilst advocating for social justice and fairness.
Whilst we have many areas that have wealth and prosperity, the pandemic laid bare the inequalities that have persisted since the industrial revolution and that were exacerbated by deindustrialisation, the collapse of
the coal industry and now a disastrous Brexit.
We also have people and families in our communities who were just about managing prior to Covid-19 who now find themselves really struggling to make ends meet.
This is a parliament that will need to be bold and ambitious. We cannot simply return to the old ways and expect things to somehow get better. We need to harness the creativity, the innovation and the ingenuity shown by local people and businesses over the last year.
We need to seek to address the underlying poverty of opportunity that exists and create pathways for individuals and companies to retrain, innovate and aspire.
The Ayrshire Growth Deal and its core tenant of community wealth building gives us the ideal platform to use public money to unlock the huge untapped potential of our corner of Scotland.
We need to make these five years count and I will work hard for all of you to make sure we see lasting and much needed change.