Parliamentary Contributions

Oral Contributions:

• 05.01 – Middle East and North Africa – I asked the government to support the ongoing protests in Iran, and raise the importance of free and fair elections in any related conversations with our Iranian counterparts
• 05.01 – Free Bus Travel: Over-60s – I intervened to ask if there are any costings available for proposals to make all bus travel for over-60s free
• 05.01 – Venezuela – Hansard – I asked the Foreign Secretary for further clarity around whether the US has a timeline for facilitating a transition to democracy in Venezuela
• 05.01 – Length of the School Week – I intervened to raise a point around how a shorter school week would impact children with additional support needs and their families
• 06.01 – Less Survivable Cancers – I delivered a speech highlighting the need for greater investment in research and treatments for less survivable cancers
• 07.01 – Ukraine and Wider Operational Update – I asked the minister whether any plan to deploy British troops to Ukraine, would first go before parliament
• 07.01 – Rural Communities – I intervened to ask the Lib Dems for costings of their policies to support farming communities, and how they would plan to raise the required funding
• 08.01 – Illegally Modified E-bikes – I asked the minister what action the government is taking to tackle the use of illegally modified e-bikes
• 08.01 – Road Safety Strategy – I pressed the minister to commit to a timeline for introducing cognitive tests for older drivers

Written Questions Answered:

• Department of Health and Social Care: Drinkaware Trust – steps to increase collaboration between DHSC and Drinkaware.
• Housing Benefit and Pension Credit: Polygamy – how many households claiming benefits receive additional consideration due to there being a polygamous marriage.
• NHS: Drugs – has NICE approved a greater or fewer number of new medicines since the introduction of the severity modifier
• Cancer: Drugs – the impact of NICE’s severity modifier on NHS England’s access to innovative cancer medicines which were previously eligible under the end-of-life weighting
• Cancer: Drugs – impact assessment of the effect of NICE’s severity modifier on the ability of cancer medicines to meet the new ‘high severity’ threshold for approval
• Higher Education: Admissions –  adequacy of the accessibility of information provided by English universities on entry requirements for Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers
• Home Office: Drinkaware Trust – steps to increase collaboration between Home Office and Drinkaware
• Cancer: Research – implications for his policies of the findings and recommendations in the World Cancer Research Fund’s 2025 report
• Breast Cancer: Alcoholic Drinks – estimate of the annual cost to the NHS of treating breast cancer cases in the UK that are attributable to alcohol consumption
• Breast Cancer: Alcoholic Drinks – how many breast cancer cases in the UK are estimated to be caused by alcohol consumption each year
• Breast Cancer: Alcoholic Drinks – steps to increase levels of public awareness on the potential impact of alcohol consumption on breast cancer risk
• Electric Bicycles: Safety – assessment of the potential policy implications stemming from the APPG for Cycling and Walking’s report titled Unregulated and Unsafe: The Threat of Illegal E-Bikes
• Streaming: Classification Schemes –  discussions with streaming services on effective audience protection measures and age classifications
• Streaming: Classification Schemes – discussions with streaming services on adopting the British Board of Film Classification’s age and content classifications
• Motor Vehicles: Edinburgh South West – how many registered petrol vehicles, diesel vehicles, electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles and classic vehicles were there in Edinburgh South West constituency in the last 5 years and the last 10 years

Media Mentions:

• 10.01 – UK Government pledges action over cognitive test for older drivers in wake of tragic death of Edinburgh toddler – The Evening News featured my contribution in the Road Safety Bill debate (see above) on cognitive tests for drivers over the age of 70. I raised this issue on behalf of the family of Xander Irvine, who was killed by an older driver who was found to be suffering from “significantly impaired cognitive ability”.
• 07.01 – Starmer’s rail nationalisation risks returning Britain to 1970s, warns Labour MP – The Telegraph covered my recent contribution in a Transport Committee meeting, where I highlighted concerns around proposals to hand powers currently held by the Office of Rail and Road, to the Transport Secretary.
• 29.12 – Local MP launches survey over Kingsknowe pedestrian bridge – Deadline News covered my survey (now closed) on the level-crossing at Kingsknowe railway station. Many constituents have written in to raise concerns around the safety of the current barrier system, and we will be working with Network Rail to find a solution.
• 09.01 – Snow in Edinburgh: 11 great pictures of Edinburgh as snow falls on the city – And, on a lighter note, a photo I took from just outside our office featured in the Evenings News’ photo gallery highlighting the recent snowfall