Broadband is big concern for many

As we return to Holyrood for the start of a new parliamentary term, it feels a lot like the start of a new school year.

The break has given MSPs the opportunity to gather information from constituents about the issues that matter to them.

I have met with many constituents and businesses to discuss a range of issues across several areas.

For example, many have raised access to even the most basic of broadband as being their number one concern. This is particularly the case in our rural areas and I will continue to press the Scottish Government on their timetable for delivering superfast broadband. Lack of access is having a significant impact on family and community lives as well as jobs and businesses.

Rural Stirling will no longer tolerate blame and excuses from the Scottish Government and I will work with politicians across the political spectrum, including my colleague Stephen Kerr MP to press for improvements.

It may well be the start of a new parliamentary term but the SNP’s Programme for Government, announced by the First Minister on Tuesday, shows that the Scottish Government is out of fresh ideas. The last year of business at Holyrood, or lack of, has seen 2016/17 be characterised as a year of inaction from this SNP Government.

Less than a quarter - three bills out of a promised 13 to be precise - of the legislation promised in the 2016 Programme for Government has been passed through the Scottish Parliament. Indeed, MSPs sat for over half a year without any legislation being put forward at all. The SNP’s first act of the session was to produce their Consultation on a Draft Referendum Bill.

As Shadow Cabinet Secretary for the Economy, I spend a substantial amount of time reviewing the SNP’s record on economic matters. There is a lot to be concerned about.

Last year’s Budget has made Scotland the highest taxed part of the UK. The threshold for the higher rate of income tax increased from £43-£45,000 next year in the rest of the UK. Derek Mackay announced that the SNP Government will freeze the threshold at £43,000. This means that a worker earning over £45,000 pays £400 more tax in Scotland than in England.

On business rates, the SNP performed a U-turn when Mr MacKay was forced to announce £40 million after complaints from many hospitality businesses, including many in Stirling, that they were facing crippling rate rises of almost 400 per cent.

We have recently seen the Barclay Review into business rates and businesses across Stirling will rightly be concerned that its recommendations fail to tackle the unfairness of the system and merely tinkers around the edges. If the businesses of Stirling are to be hit with increases of 400 per cent next year then this would catastrophic for an already struggling economy in the town centre.

We will also be reviewing the proposals for the Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Deal and ensuring that it can reinvigorate the High Street and also deliver high quality infrastructure for our rural communities.

The truth is that the First Minister and her government, despite promising a summer “relaunch” of her government’s policies, is frankly out of ideas about how to solve the structural problems in the economy. Instead we will have to just manage with the spin and re-packaged ideas for yet another year without really exploring how we can face the many challenges that lie ahead.

Simply tinkering is not the solution. This coming year is the first in Scotland since 2013 where there will not be an election or referendum, and this presents a chance to see a political debate in Scotland which focuses heavily on day to day issues that matter to us at home. This is exactly what my party will be doing.

Rural Stirling will no longer tolerate blame and excuses