Tories continue to cause Scots chaos

With Easter recess underway, I had the pleasure of spending the week in the centre of the universe and I thoroughly enjoyed quality time to visit with friends, family and constituents here in our town.

I’ve said it countless times and I’m sure I’ll say it a 100 times more while I’m lucky enough to have the job of being Paisley’s MSP.

But it really is the best job in the world and that’s because of all the wonderful people who make our town what it is – a town that I have the honour of representing in our national parliament.

It’s because I care so much about our town and every Buddie who calls Paisley home that I am delighted by the recent increase in Social Security Scotland increases which will see the amount of assistance anyone in receipt of it will receive go up by 6.7 per cent.

In the 2024/25 Scottish Government budget, despite shameless cuts from

Westminster when the last thing anyone needs is less money right now, the SNP prioritised helping those who need it the most – and now all devolved social security payments will be uprated in line with inflation.

This means that vital supports such as the game-changing Scottish Child Payment, the winter heating payment and the young carer grant all went up last week.

While the Labour party shift ever closer to the right, and they seem unable to commit to even protecting no tuition fees, alongside the Westminster cost-of-living crisis and a Tory party who remain more concerned with protecting the richest in society at the expense of the average person struggling to get by right now after decades of austerity and cuts, the SNP-led Scottish Government is using the limited resources we have under devolution to support household budgets and ensure those who need it most get the assistance they need.

Despite how much the Scottish

Government continue to do to help our communities and constituents weather the worst of what Westminster delivers, ultimately we are always operating with one hand tied behind our backs.

This is simply not good enough and it is time to definitively share that message with our counterparts south of the border and tell the UK Government once and for all that Scotland can do better – and certainly deserves better – without them.

People, dignity, fairness and respect will always be at the heart of Scottish Government policy.

And it is truly a shame the same cannot be said about the Tories who unfortunately have the power to cause chaos for Scots despite our efforts to mitigate the consequences as much as possible.

It will only be with independence and total financial autonomy that we can create the country we really want to see and allow our communities to thrive.