Escalating rural issues show PM Boris out of touch
At the weekend there, we marked the official opening of the Scottish Parliament for its sixth session.
As is often the case with events like this, there is a certain amount of pomp and circumstance – but there are also many elements that help keep the parliament connected with the people we represent, and I particularly welcomed the opportunity to nominate a ‘Local Hero’.
This was an opportunity to invite, as guests, inspiring individuals from all over Scotland to whom tribute was paid, as part of the proceedings, for their efforts and the part they have played in their communities throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
The tricky bit was choosing one guest so, to all those wonderful volunteers who have done so much for our communities through these incredibly difficult times, I want to say a very heartfelt thank you.
I also recently got the opportunity to meet up– along with some other parliamentarians and Jack, my Bearded Collie – with some of my old farming pals on a visit to Jim McLaren’s farm in Crieff.
Among the issues covered in wide-ranging discussions were the labour shortages and supply chain problems that are affecting those working in the agricultural sector so badly.
I am sure Covid has something to do with these issues but there is no doubt that the real factor behind it all is Brexit.
The sunny uplands we were promised seem very far away indeed.
It was like having salt rubbed into the wound to see Boris Johnson on the TV days later, flapping, floundering and quoting from classical literature when faced with the reality that 120,000 healthy pigs will need to be slaughtered and incinerated on farm because of a shortage of abattoir and butchery workers. What a shameful waste!
This was the man who, during the Brexit referendum, promised farmers opportunities beyond their wildest dreams.
This is his reality – he could not care less about farmers or the farming sector.
Just like the money for the NHS emblazoned on the side of his bus, this is another promise that has fallen flat.
Indeed – given the fuel shortages being caused by a lack of lorry drivers, another consequence of Brexit – the bus itself has probably ground to a halt.
Mind you, this is a man who made it clear in other interviews at the weekend where his priorities lie – “never mind”cancer outcomes or life expectancy, look at wage growth.
Yes, he really did say that. And, even then, we know whose incomes he thinks are important with his obstinate refusal to scrap the decision to claw back £20 a week from those on Universal Credit.
If there is anyone in politics who is out of touch with ordinary people it is the current resident of 10 Downing Street.