Monday

Early morning flight to London. I have a meeting with a company that provide systems for diesel engines that enables them to also use liquid natural gas and therefore reduce their carbon footprint. In conjunction with the proposals at Hunterston for a power station they see the possibility to duel fuel diesel trains. The Prime Minister made a statement in the House on the European Council. As part of her statement she talked about the spirit of cooperation and consensus. I bobbed for a question and was taken. I asked if this new spirit could be extended to the devolved parliaments. The PM responded that it always had. Of course, we know that’s not the view of the devolved parliaments. In the evening I spoke on the panel of the Global Cannabis Partnership. There was a lot of talk about ethical growing, international financial opportunities, nationally recognised legislation but far too little about patients and their needs.

Tuesday

The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee took evidence from two excellent witnesses, Hannah Vickers, CEO, the Association for Consulting and Engineering and Miles Ashley, Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, on the Government’s management of major infrastructure projects. I then spoke at an event organised by Anyone’s Child to highlight the terrible loss of life due to the current UK drug policy.

Wednesday

Less than one hundred Conservative and Unionist MPs turned up for Prime Minister’s Questions. Apathy combined with their internal party conflict has deemed the government incapable of even putting on a show of unity. Despite their small numbers they made one heck of a noise when Iain Blackford challenged the Prime Minister. They were so noisy that no one could hear Iain. This was brought to the attention of the speaker who then rebuked me for shouting out. This was disappointing as he didn’t rebuke the government benches for their part in the fiasco and it wasn’t me that shouted out. But I took one for the team. I attended the climate coalition lobby and the immigration debate before catching the 18:20 flight home.

Thursday

I delivered contact details to constituents and held street surgeries. I do this on a regular basis but it’s always nicer when the sun is shining as it was today.

Friday

I have an interview on gambling and its relationship with Scottish football followed by one of my regular catch ups with Laura Reilly of Belville Gardens. As part of National Care Home Day, I visited the Crown Care day centre.

Monday

I attended the Inverclyde Alliance ‘Every Child Every Chance’ event in Port Glasgow Town Hall. The focus was tackling child poverty. There were excellent speeches and it was good to see councillors from Labour, Conservative, SNP and Independent all in attendance. In the afternoon I was in Edinburgh at the Gambling Commission launch of its National Strategy. I have issues with the Gambling Commissions funding model but this report is a good one and it recognises the need for a statutory levy on the gambling industry. Making it statutory allows the providers of support for gambling related harm, along with those developing education, to make long term plans. I am increasingly using trains to travel and once again I managed to leave Edinburgh and be in my flat in Greenock in two hours.

Tuesday

Today was a day reserved for constituency work. I also carried out street surgeries in the area.

Wednesday

With the increasingly debilitating Brexit process now being compounded by the Conservative and Unionist Party leadership race, I am attempting to squeeze meaningful work into fewer days at Westminster. With that in mind I left at 5:30am for the 6:30am flight. In amongst a plethora of meetings I also had a question to the Secretary of State for Scotland and asked if he agreed with the Duchy of Lancaster when he said that a review of the intergovernmental process could wait until the end of the year. He neither confirmed nor denied it. The Prime Minister is looking better now that she has an escape route for herself planned and was skating through PMQs until Ian Blackford called out Boris Johnson as a racist. When the predictable outcry came from the Government benches, Ian doubled down and listed the racist remarks that had been made. Confronted with that information it is impossible to defend Boris but his Conservative colleagues tried. After the dog fight that is PMQs I was pleased to support some more placid canine friends. I hosted a room to help support guide dogs for the blind. I took the opportunity to meet with owners of the working dogs and puppies in training. My last event was a roundtable discussion and podcast hosted by UK LEAP and Anyone’s Child. The focus of the discussion was the progress of the drug policy reform lobby and the path forward. My journey home did not go well as there was major disruption on the tube and my flight was delayed. To cap it all the M8 was shut and I had a detour via Bishopton. I got home at 23:15. I look upon it all as experienced living for my role on the transport select committee!

Thursday

The morning was spent catching up with case work and in the afternoon, I did the Inverclyde Bothy Walk. Active travel is becoming more and more mainstream and designing transport systems that can integrate safe walking and cycling are important for our health and our planet.

Friday

I joined the teams from Inverclyde Bothy in Gourock railway station and Community Tracks for a cycle through Inverclyde. The purpose was to review the proposals for the route being supported by Sustrans. Looking at pinch points and obstacles. In the afternoon I caught up with Craig Berry of the Common Weal. I often reach out to academics and think tanks for a non-partisan take on issues and I have also contributed to the Common Weal over the years. In the evening I attended the Kilmacolm Civic Trust 50^th Anniversary celebration at Windyhill, the Charles Rennie McIntosh house. On Saturday, I shall be supporting the Wemyss Bay Train station open day and on Sunday I shall be attending some of the ‘Great Get Together’ events around Inverclyde.