Parliamentary Contributions

Oral Contributions:

• 16.12 – Quarries: Planning Policy – I gave a speech highlighting the two major quarries in my constituency – Ravelrig and Hailes – noting the collaborative approach employed at the former, active quarry, and the fantastic restoration initiatives which have been so successful at the, now defunct, Hailes quarry.
• 16.12 – Finance (No. 2) Bill – I intervened to laud the trade deal which we have negotiated with the US, and to suggest that the Scottish government wouldn’t have been able to cut a better deal, under the SNP
• 16.12 – Electoral Resilience – I condemned the actions of Reform’s Nathan Gill, and asked the minister to take into account the views of young people, when working on a strategy to improve democratic resilience in this country
• 17.12 – Puberty Suppressants Trial – I asked the minister to clarify whether this trial will look at both the issue around side-effects, and the potential harms that can be caused by limiting access to puberty blockers
• 17.12 – UK-EU Common Understanding Negotiations – I congratulated the government on renewing our participation in Erasmus, noting that the scheme had not been perfect and asking whether government would consider implementing new initiatives to encourage uptake among working class young people
• 17.12 – INEOS Chemicals: Grangemouth – I congratulated the minister on saving jobs at Grangemouth, and asked whether any consideration had been given to using the site for sustainable aviation fuel production

Written Questions Answered:

• Driving Tests: Sales –  how many individuals had their status as Approved Driving Instructors removed by DVSA due to being involved in reselling driving tests
• Driving Tests: Sales – when the Chief Executive of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency was made aware that Approved Driving Instructors were involved in reselling driving tests
• Driving Tests: Sales – extent to which Approved Driving Instructors are sharing their official driving test-booking login details with third parties in order to profit from the resale of tests
• Driving Tests: Sales – the extent to which Approved Driving Instructors are involved in reselling driving tests
• World Cup: Tickets – iscussions with FIFA on the pricing of participating member association’s tickets for the 2026 FIFA World Cup
• Electric Bicycles and Electric Scooters: Sales – steps to ensure businesses selling e-scooters and e-bikes make customers aware of the legal restrictions on the use of those products
• Electric Vehicles: Charging Points – impact of amending the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 to introduce a statutory minimum uptime for all publicly accessible charge points, including slow on-street and residential chargers
• Roads: Cats – burden on local authorities and National Highways to identify and reunite cats injured or killed on the road, in the absence of a statutory duty for drivers to report such collisions

Media Mentions:

• 15.12 – Edinburgh begins Hannukah amid shadow of Sydney attack – I attended the lighting of the menorah in St Andrews Square, to show my support for Edinburgh’s Jewish community, during these difficult times.
• 18.12 –  Plans for new Edinburgh hotel and flats with gym, cafe and rooftop bar move forward at gap site – I highlighted plans for a new multi-use development at an Edinburgh gap site, which have moved forward after the pre-application consultation was approved.