It has been a busy week with Chilcot and the new PM

These are fast moving times.

So much has happened politically since my last column, and I’ve been incredibly busy at Westminster.

I’ve spoken up against the RBS branch closure in Cambuslang, to oppose the privatisation of the Land Registry by the Tories, against the forthcoming reduction in elected representation for Scottish people, to highlight the massive issue of dog fighting, spoken up for human rights in Iran and Sri Lanka, raised the issue of rising petrol prices, called for action for the 1950s women suffering pension injustice, secured a commitment from the Prime Minister to look into the denial of bonuses to Pauline Cafferkey and other Ebola volunteers, challenged David Mundell to visit a foodbank in my constituency, and more besides.

If you are interested to know more about the work I do at parliament, you can subscribe for updates at theyworkforyou.com, and follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

We have also witnessed the long-awaited release of the Chilcot report.

It is a damning indictment of, in particular, Tony Blair.

At over 2.6 million words it is probably the longest report in history.

Contained within is a 2002 memo from Blair to President George W Bush, in which he said: “I will be with you, whatever.”

This was a clear predetermined commitment to war, long before Parliament had voted on the matter.

The report also found that diplomatic options had not been exhausted when Tony Blair asked MPs to support military action.

In his statement Sir John Chilcot said: “We have concluded that the UK chose to join the invasion of Iraq before the peaceful options for disarmament had been exhausted,” and that “military action at that time was not a last resort.”

Sir John Chilcot also determined that claims about the threat posed by Iraq were said with a certainty that “was not justified” and were based on “flawed intelligence,” which went unchallenged, and that the UK’s actions “undermined” the authority of the UN Security Council.

Tony Blair led the UK into a scandalous conflict, with calamitous consequences for the stability of the Middle East.

My thoughts are very much with the hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians killed, and the families of the 179 UK armed services personnel who perished in the war. They now deserve justice.

We also have a new Prime Minister. Theresa May must now show very real, and strong leadership.

She becomes Prime Minister at a time of great uncertainty caused by the Tories, who have taken the country and the economy to the edge of a cliff with the EU referendum result. Their abject failure to plan for Brexit has caused a great deal of damage and uncertainty.

Theresa May must now work with Nicola Sturgeon to protect Scotland’s place in Europe – respecting the overwhelming choice of the people of Scotland who voted by 62 per cent to remain in the EU.

Theresa May must now show very real, and strong leadership