KEZIA DUGDALE

I WAS beyond delighted to see the Scottish Government embody the Christmas spirit with their new fund to support premature babies.

Labour MSP Mark Griffin has spent most of 2017 by the bedside of his premature baby girl Rosa. The doctors didn’t think she stood a chance but she is a real miracle.

What is perhaps even more miraculous is how Mark and his wife Stefanie found the strength to campaign for other families.

They realised how lucky they were because they could afford to be by their daughter’s bedside. Others were not so lucky. Mark took that story to the Scottish Parliament and moved everyone.

The fund will help families cover the basics, so they can be with their children. What a wonderful thing for the SNP to announce just before Christmas.

AS THE sun goes down on 2017, it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on the year that was.

For me, this was a year which started with the loss of a best friend as Gordon Aikman succumbed to motor neurone disease. And it failed to get much better after that.

It’s a year that brought a council election, a surprise general election and more political twists and turns than one government might expect over a whole term of office.

Labour’s standing went up in the general election, but not by enough to push it through the doors of No10, so the Tories continue to wreak havoc and destruction.

Sometimes by design with things like the rape clause, universal credit and benefit cuts. Sometimes through folly and incompetence – and to that column you can add in all things marked “Brexit”.

It’s a year that could be defined by sexual harassment, as every major political party was marred by the actions of some men.

From Holyrood to Hollywood, it felt like something might just change. But then nothing did and the world moved on. A man who asked his parliamentary aide to buy sex toys remains in post. We have learned nothing.

Each year that goes by is of course filled with highs and lows but few will toast 2017 in years to come. And I for one couldn’t be happier to see the back of it.

So what of 2018? Hopefully a year free of elections. A chance for governments to do what they are supposed to do – govern. I live in hope.

Brexit will dominate and while this year ends with us no clearer than we were at the start of it, we should get some clarity this year on what impact it will have on jobs, employment rates and the general state of our economy.

I hope that those like me who worry deeply about the impact of Brexit on the poorest will show their mettle and speak loudly and unashamedly. No one voted to be poorer and no referendum result is worthy of greater respect than the duty to do the right thing by those you were elected to serve.

I for one will wish for a calmer year. Every month of this year felt like it was filled with some major event. Something that would impact on my family, professional world or outlook in some way.

Enough. I’ve reset my life and am now focused on the things that really matter; making a difference, making time for those that matter. It’s been a tough year but it’s taught me some life lessons.

I’m immensely lucky and I will never lose sight of that.

What’s more – I’ll use all those lessons to do better for all those who need 2018 to be a better year.

So 2017 – good riddance. And here’s to a happy, healthy New Year.

A man who asked his aide to buy sex toys is still in post. We learned nothing