It’s back to business

There’s a ‘Back to School’ atmosphere about Scottish politics this week.

Today the Scottish Parliament reconvenes for the first time after the summer recess.

I have tried to make the most of my time away from the Parliament, getting out and about in the community, meeting with constituents and pressing on with campaigns to reform the pub industry and save the Children’s Ward at the RAH.

Now MSPs are going back to Holyrood and we will hear the First Minister set out her legislative agenda for the year ahead in one of the first set-pieces of the Parliamentary session.

Last year’s SNP programme was a light one. The government came in for criticism over the length of time it took them to actually get round to passing a Bill. In June’s snap General Election, the SNP lost half a million votes as the electorate sent them a clear message: get on with the day job.

No more grandstanding. No more agitating for a re-run of the referendum. There’s too much work to be done.

The staffing crisis in the NHS that leaves wards shut and threatens local services, the attainment gap in Scotland’s schools that leaves children from less affluent backgrounds with fewer opportunities in life, the backwards public transport system that puts profit before the interests of passengers – those are the challenges the SNP should be focussed on tackling in these next few months.

That’s how you change people’s lives and that’s what politics, for me, should be all about.