Monday

I didn’t travel to Westminster as I was helping to host the judges for Council of the Year. Inverclyde is one of the finalists and I met with two of the judges at the new Greenock Ocean Terminal to discuss levelling up funding and the wider regeneration plans for the area. I was happy to support council officer Stuart Jamieson in this role and hopefully we can win the award. More importantly, we must push forward the bold plans to reshape the town centre for both tourists and locals and attract more industry into the area. We are always planting these seeds and it’s frustrating when it takes so long for any to come to fruition, but I do believe we are much better placed now than we have been for a number of years.

Tuesday

Down to Westminster and a great meeting with the owners of a company that grow medical cannabis. The setup they are required to provide involves the growing rooms, security of product and efficacy of the medicine. It’s an impressive investment but they, like all other growers, are experiencing difficulties in acquiring licences from the Home Office. It takes six months to apply and the licence is for a year. Therefore, it’s one continual cycle which doesn’t help to attract investment. I received an online briefing from Voltface pertaining to an event I am doing with them on medical cannabis prescribing early in June. In the evening I attended the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the 12 step recovery. It was a mixture of a presentation of research from Dame Carol Black and lived experience testimony. The latter is always the more powerful. A very famous retired footballer told his story of addictions. This is a player that on the surface had everything, but his story brought a tear to everyone’s eye. He was brutally honest and there was not a shred of self pity in what he said. So often the people that have come through addiction are the best of people.

Wednesday

Prime Minister’s Questions was both worse and better than usual. Worse because of the pathetic performance from the Leader of the Opposition. Any man that wants to form the next government has to start telling folk what the differences are between his party and the Conservatives. But it was better because finally the Speaker told a Member to leave because their behaviour is unacceptable. It was one of the usual suspects and as he walked out with his tail between his legs his fellow school ground bullies looked down nervously and shuffled their feet in-case they were next. Hopefully, the lesson has been learned and PMQs can become a platform to hold the U.K. government to account once again. I say this full in the knowledge that I have a question on the Order Paper to the Prime Minister in a couple of weeks.

Thursday

I bobbed for question to Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) but wasn’t taken. I was going to ask if they had any conversations with their colleagues in the Home Office about hemp growing licences, I shall put it in writing to them instead. I suspect I know the answer. There were a couple of Urgent Questions, and I covered the chamber until it was time to best a retreat back up the road.

Friday

I had a catch-up meeting with senior council officers in the morning. Caught up with casework and the usual paperwork and in the afternoon I hosted the screening of a documentary called One Last Spin at the Hub in Inverkip. It’s a documentary about gambling addiction and we followed that with a question-and-answer session afterwards with one of the documentary creators Martin Paterson.

Monday

The All Party Parliamentary Group ( APPG ) on commercial sexual exploitation had a meeting to discuss what we can do to amend the Online Safety Bill after it comes back from the House of Lords. It is a harrowing subject matter but it’s an opportunity to make the right changes. The APPG shall be reaching out to all parties to help members understand the size and significance of the problem. 

Tuesday

Today was the SNP opposition debate day. We chose to debate the cost of living and Brexit, so often when people talk about the cost of living crisis they acknowledge the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Covid but Brexit seems to have been dismissed. We then debated the disgraceful attack on the right to free speech which is the Public Order Act. I met with Transform Drugs Policy to get a briefing on Psilocybin. The APPG on gambling related harm met to discuss our approach to the recently published white paper on gambling. Earlier I sat in on the select committee hearing on this and was deeply disappointed by the majority of it. I summed up in a Westminster Hall debate on corporate profit or more accurately corporate greed. 

Wednesday

It was up to the party deputies to cross examine the U.K. government at PMQs. Angela Rayner as deputy leader of the Labour Party has, in the past, been very strong at this but not today when she waffled on and on which simply allows the baying mobs of the U.K. government benches to shout over her and then the whole thing descends into chaos. Mhairi Black kept it short and made her points. The deputy Prime Minister’s contempt for Scotland is already well known and his manner at PMQs emphasised that. I had a zoom meeting with Giulia Spilotros from the Green Network to get an update on the peatland reclamation programme in Inverclyde. Late afternoon I had a meeting with Chris Philp MP, minister for policing, along with industry experts to discuss the problems with the licensing of hemp. It was a constructive meeting. 

Thursdays 

My select committee met and we took evidence from senior civil servants on the survey of 360,000 civil servants and the way they publish the data. I spoke in the House of Commons on a motion to reschedule psilocybin. It was brought forward by myself, Crispin Blunt MP and Charlotte Nichols MP. Despite it having that level of CEOs party support the government response was poor. 

Friday 

I worked in my office all day and caught up with the local police to cover a range of local issues. On Saturday I shall be attending the Scottish Families affected by alcohol and drugs 20th birthday party at the Beacon.

Monday

Today was deemed a coronation day holiday but my office remained open as unfortunately the relentless onslaught on sections of our society by the Conservative and Unionist U.K. government continues unabated. 

Tuesday 

Back to Westminster and the smugness of the political monarchists exchanging coronation stories. Their lack of self awareness at being honoured for their servility is astounding. Meanwhile the All Party Parliamentary Group on medical cannabis under prescription were busy selecting our secretariat and considering our agenda for the coming year .

Wednesday

Once again at Prime Minister’s Questions the Prime Minister had to be reminded by the Speaker that he was there to answer questions not ask them. 

There are far more productive things to be done away from the chamber and I had a fascinating meeting with experts in using hemp in the construction industry. This is a growing area of interest and the possibilities are huge, both in terms of employment and environmental benefits. It’s an industry that could have a huge future. I was not required to cover any business in the chamber so I was I elated to beat a hasty return home. Fate however was not kind to me and my tea time flight from london city is cancelled and replaced by a 21:55 out of Heathrow that turns into a 22:15 . I got home at midnight. 

Thursday 

Today was a great day of engagements. The sort of day that reenergises me and reminds me what a privilege it is to do this job. I met with senior management of a company that are in the process of opening a small business in the James Watt marina. It’s a fantastic use of fish waste which creates biofuel. I held surgeries at the Craigend resource centre and Branchton community centre. Both are wonderful examples of community engagement and are going from strength to strength. I then drove through to Edinburgh for an event hosted by the Scottish Drugs Forum and listened to a number of wonderful speakers whose lives have been affected by the failed war on drugs and the damaging Westminster legislation. It was a late night and I got home at midnight again.

Friday

I drove to Jedburgh to meet with a range of people involved in the production of hemp insulation panels and the supply chain that supports it. By attending these events I am building a network of contacts that hopefully one day I can tempt into establishing both the growing of industrial hemp and the consumption of it in an appropriate manufacturing process in Inverclyde. 

Monday

I met with Scottish Government officials to discuss Climate Action Hubs. The structures that we utilise to address climate issues is very important and the question we need to answer is how local the hubs should be. Can we address a worldwide problem by treating them as local issues? I think a local hub would play a huge part in rolling out improvements and educating the general public. It’s also important that people are empowered to take positive actions to improve their communities and in doing so bring pressure to bear on councils and governments. I raised two questions in the House. The first was about the repeated lack of enforcement of the ministerial code and the second was on the lack of support for U.K. citizens trying to escape from Sudan.

Tuesday

I was on the rota as I was covering for a colleague, unfortunately I was feeling unwell and so muddled through the day with the help of the parliamentary nurse. I did have a fruitful discussion with Jason Reed from Law Enforcement Action Partnership regarding drug policy. We voted at 7pm and I retreated to my hotel for a good night’s sleep.

Wednesday

I dropped in on the Alcohol and Families Alliance policy fair. I took the opportunity to talk with a number of groups including Turning Point and Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs. Prime Minister’s Questions was so loud and abusive that I could hardly hear what was being said. Every week the speaker threatens to send someone out for an early cup of tea, and he never does. I think an early exit may be a good thing. And quite shockingly when asked by Stephen Flynn if a child being evacuated from Sudan would be refused entry to the U.K. the prime minister has no answer. This Conservative and Unionist government has no shame. Stephen Flynn used standing order 24 (a motion may be made by a Member ‘for the purpose of discussing a specific and important matter that should have urgent consideration’) to try and secure a debate on the illegal migration bill but the speaker did not grant it. The APPG on gambling related harm discussed our response to the white paper on gambling reform which is always difficult when we are second guessing its content. The APPG on Drugs Alcohol and Justice heard about cooperative working across services. I had a short phone call with Stuart Andrew (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Tourism, Heritage and Civil Society) to inform me that the white paper would definitely be published tomorrow. We then had five votes on the disgraceful Illegal Migration Bill.

Thursday

I had planned to return home last night but stayed over for the U.K. government’s white paper on gambling reform. Before that I bobbed for a question on voter Id. It will be tried in full during the upcoming English council elections and there are still grave concerns about the impact it will have on voter turnout. The gambling statement was superficial and leans to far towards the gambling commission for my liking. The white paper is 256 pages most of which is the art of stating the blindingly obvious, but it does include some good stuff and a lot of areas to be pursued. This paper heralds the start of a new conversation. I had a meeting with the minister as a follow up to the publication of the white paper. Unfortunately, a delay in my scheduled travel meant I had to cancel an interview with BBC news channel.

Friday

I visited Mind Mosaic to catch up with the work they do regarding child and family therapies. I attended the service to commemorate International workers day. And finally, I visited Wiltshire Farm Foods to better understand the challenges facing the industry with the extended producer responsibility (EPR) legislation.

Monday

Back to Westminster after Easter recess. I had l a quick tour of the place with a constituent. It’s always good to let people see the inner workings of parliament and make it as inclusive as possible. I had an interview with the Evening Standard around the forthcoming white paper on gambling reform. Not for the first time I have been told that it is imminent. The 27th of April is now looking likely. From the rumours I hear there shall be good things included but I do have concerns that despite the acknowledgment that advertising can lead to harm the planned restrictions will not go nearly far enough. There were no votes at the end of the day which meant the first day back was mercifully not a late night sitting.

Tuesday

I had a productive meeting with Scotrail regarding the planned timetable for Inverclyde trains. I expect the proposals to be a reduction in off peak fast trains in the short term but an increase in the Sunday service by summer 2024 along with an improved and targeted off peak service. Importantly this is not death by a thousand cuts and I have urged Scotrail to engage with the public as soon as they are in a situation to do so. This way we can end the speculation and debate the facts. I am fully committed to protecting and improving the rail service. I attended a drop-in event to highlight the inequality of prepayment meters. The campaign is determined to ensure that energy customers are treated fairly and equally. I had to appear in front of the Backbench Business Committee to request a debate on Psilocybin. It went well and the debate should take place on the 18th of May. There were three votes on the Finance Bill and the last one was just after 5pm.

Wednesday

Prime Minister’s Questions has now become a complete waste of time. The reason that it was introduced was to give parliament a scheduled time of the week, every week, to hold the Prime Minister to account. It is now no more than a rabble of dissenting voices. Increasingly it feels like the official opposition is being held to account by the government. Keir Starmer, Leader of the official opposition, spent the entire time on the back foot and rushed through his questions in record time, given the very strong impression that he didn’t want to be there. Fortunately, Stephen Flynn was on good form and managed to both quell the Conservative and Unionist hordes and hold the Prime Minister to account. There were four more votes on the Finance Bill. I attended the enable safer gambling event and had a very interesting discussion with folk from the Behavioural Insights Group, previously known as the nudge unit. It’s fascinating how they measure what influence’s people behaviour, in this case gambling. I went to a PHSO drop-in and spoke with Rob Behrens who is the Ombudsman. These casual events are a nice change from the formal evidence sessions that I usually interact with him at. GambleAware had an event to launch their new advertising campaign. I wish them well. The television adverts they have commissioned are very good.

Thursday

The main event of the day from my perspective was the debate in Westminster Hall on the economic contribution of medical cannabis. I have spent years explaining the moral and ethical benefits of medical cannabis to countless Conservative and Unionist ministers and they have not listened. But introduce the concept that it’s an industry they can tax and raise money from and suddenly their ears prick up. It wasn’t a great debate but I got to express my opinions.

Friday

I opened the Inverclyde jobs fair at the town hall. This is an event that required a lot of collaboration from the council and local employment and skills agencies. Over 25 companies

and organisations took part and hopefully those seeking employment, or a change of employment found it fruitful. Keeping people gainfully employed within the Inverclyde area is hugely important to the economic survival of this community. In the afternoon, I met with representatives from Openreach to discuss their broadband plans for Inverclyde and covered a few issues raised by constituents too.

Monday

The day started with questions to the Department for Levelling Up. They will administer the Investment Zones finances therefore following our success in attracting 19 million pounds of levelling up funds to Inverclyde, I was keen to register Inverclyde in their psyche again. The government then made a statement about banning nitrous oxide, better known as laughing gas. This has all the makings of a fiasco. They have given no thought to the industries that use nitrous oxide and seem to be more concerned about the detritus left behind in parks than addressing the issue of why young people are using this drug. It’s another knee jerk reaction to drug use and this one will simply make matters worse. Even former cabinet minister Kit Malthouse can see the issues arising, namely driving the consumer into the arms of the illegal market. In the evening, I did a one hour broadcast for Independence Live. I like the way they give young musical talent a chance to showcase and develop their skills by giving them slots on their shows.

Tuesday

My select committee is investigating the future of government estate. We took evidence from Alex Burghart MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office, Steven Boyd, Chief Executive of the government property agency and Ravi Chand, Director at Cabinet Office for government property. Our main concern is the cost and practicality of the U.K. government’s estate. Backed by a Conservative Party manifesto pledge to move 22,000 civil service job out of London, the U.K. government has opened outposts in Darlington, Wolverhampton, Glasgow and a few other places. We are examining the financial benefits of such a move and trying to ascertain if it creates better governance or not. In the afternoon I met with YGAM to discuss the education they provide to stop kids being harmed by gambling.

Wednesday

I met with a delegation from Brazil. They were from the Krenak indigenous community that have seen their livelihood and culture destroyed by the Mariana Dam Disaster. Over 700,000 people has their livelihood destroyed and the river has been irreparably damaged. I attended a vaping information session run by the industry. They are keen to promote vaping as a tool to help people stop smoking and they too have concerns over packaging aimed at children and the one-off disposable vapes that children are using. The laws need changing to regulate the industry better. I then hosted a call on behalf of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Industrial Hemp. I brought together industry experts to discuss how we can help the industry develop. Prime Minster’s Questions was a day for the deputies and the Deputy prime minister, and his opposite number enjoyed their moment in the limelight. The exchanges were longer than usual. Much of it was about the pitifully low number of convictions for the crime of rape. Mhairi Black for the SNP pressed the government on the seemingly large number of their MPs who were prepared to sell themselves to organisations for large fees, while still remaining MPs. Their greed and lack of scruples is a blight on the reputation of most MPs and only serve to alienate the public from political life.

Thursday

A later night in the Chamber than was expected meant I stayed over and started my journey home on the 5:30 am tube out of Westminster. By 9am I was in Greenock which was fortunate as I had a busy day. I was afforded a tour of the new Greenock Ocean Terminal and I was extremely impressed by what I saw. The size and scale of the building, the flexibility in its layout, the empathetic positioning alongside the cruise ship docking pontoon, all lead me to believe that this building will be great addition to Inverclyde and the local economy. In the evening, I attended the Inverclyde music service which for twenty five years has been building musical excellence in Inverclyde schools. Tonight’s concert was a fitting tribute to all the hard work that has been put in over the years.

Friday

I visited HMP Greenock. I have huge reservations about the plans to spend money to make to and mend this prison and shall continue to press the Scottish Government to build new suitable premises in Greenock. The living and working conditions are not appropriate for this day and age. I attended the visitor centre at Cornalees to hear about Rig Arts involvement with Clyde Muirshiel Park. The Inverclyde Shed was officially opened today, and I was pleased to be there to see the fantastic facility. And to finish off the working week I went to listen to Darren McGarvey in the Beacon. I shall be back on Saturday to see Kidnapped in the big theatre.

Monday

Prior to business starting in the House I had a meeting with LINK to discuss Access to Cash. It is an ongoing concern that people who still rely on cash are increasingly finding it harder to access cash. This is predominantly the oldest and most vulnerable in society. While I acknowledge the path towards electronic transactions and the benefits to many, but it is not for all, and we must take cognisance of that. I bobbed in the house for a question during topicals to the Home Office and when taken I pushed the need for a better licensing agreement around growing industrial hemp. The minister agreed to meet me along with industry representatives. Hopefully he can be persuaded to take a common-sense approach to this issue. Following my meeting with Link I took part in the Westminster Hall debate on ‘acceptance of cash’. I pressed the point that everyone needs to be comfortable with the direction of travel and a government education programme akin to that which we had on the road to decimalisation is imperative, if people are not going to be left behind.

Tuesday

I attended an event to highlight the introduction of voter identification. I did a quick BBC interview and mentioned the dangers of ostracising sections of our community as the electoral commission fear over two million people who don’t have photo identification may not vote. Voter identification will be required in the local council elections in England this May. It will be interesting to see if the turnouts falls and why. The Online Safety Bill is currently in the House of Lords and amendments are being considered. I met with representatives of the Lords and the Samaritans to discuss amendments to make the internet safer for people who may be considering suicide. Currently the U.K. government is allowing sites that are deemed ‘legal but harmful’. It is our intention to address this language and remove all harmful material.

The Samaritans amendment will hopefully be brought forward once the bill has returned from scrutiny in the House of Lords. In the evening and at the conclusion of the budget debate we had two votes. The second one was on an SNP amendment opposing the planned 10.1% rise in whisky duty. The Labour Party and a Liberal Democrats abstained. Along with the Conservatives they won’t be happy until they have bled Scotland dry.

Wednesday

A week after the budget and one day after the debate and vote, the leader of the opposition has caved and didn’t mention it once during Prime Minister’s Questions. Later in the afternoon we voted on the Windsor Framework. This provides a nice deal for Northern Ireland. Usually, my select committee sits on a Tuesday or Thursday morning but this week we sat on a Wednesday, and we took evidence from Michael Gove regarding the intergovernmental relationship, changes to electoral law and levelling up funding. It was at time a lively affair and Mr Gove is as always well briefed and prepared to fight his corner but too often he goes for an answer that shows off that depth of knowledge and misses the point of the question. The session was interrupted by votes on the Public Order Bill. Normally a session like this with a Secretary of State giving evidence would attract media attention but not today as the media scrum was focused on the ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson giving evidence to the Standards Committee. The question to be answered is, did he knowingly lie to and so mislead the House? The select committee may report before summer recess.

Thursday

On the back of the latest announcement of a delay in the delivery of the Glen Sannox and hull 802 by Ferguson Marine, I met with David Tydeman to hear the facts. It wasn’t such a surprise that there was a delay but hopefully we are now in the final straight of what has been a torturous journey for all involved. As the local MP, I get very protective of local businesses and when I read about the overspend on the Dart railway line, the Elizabeth line, aircraft carriers, Ajax tanks, nuclear energy stations and there are many others, I do wonder why national media isn’t reporting them with similar zeal. What I do know is that the yard is in the best shape I have seen it in, and the workforce are gainfully employed. The yard is working with BAE and other projects are already underway. A recent job advert for 15 apprenticeships was massively oversubscribed and the current batch of apprentices are working towards concluding their course. In the past many a career has its foundations in a lower Clyde shipyard and Ferguson Marine is carrying on that tradition. In the afternoon I was put through my paces by two student journalists. One from the City university in London and the other from the University of Sheffield, both studying journalism and writing about gambling.

Friday

I took advantage of a day in my office to catch up with local issues and the associated case work. I am not the first person to press the need to put the Green back into Greenock, Councillor Jim Hunter was doing it back in the seventies. If only we had listened to him. Continuing that theme I am always asking people, when is the best time to plant a tree? And the answer is ten years ago. But if you didn’t do it then, do it now. I mention this because I know a man that has 30,000 trees that he wants to plant, just in-case you were interested.