On Monday I held surgeries in Westhill, Blackburn, and Kintore, where I talked with constituents about their concerns over business rates, problems within the NHS and more.
On Tuesday I attended a meeting of the Environment, Climate Change, and Land Reform committee. I was present for the debate on Article 50 in the chamber, and I am appalled by the SNP’s lack of respect for the referendum result. We will continue pressing the government to focus on actually governing instead of fixating on a second referendum after the people of Scotland have already voted to stay part of the United Kingdom.
In the evening, I co-sponsored a debate with Mike Rumbles MSP on the Blackhillock to Kintore Transmission Line. The proposed line could have large impacts on the local land and communities and I will continue to keep this item at the front of the agenda. My speech can be found here.
On Wednesday I had a meeting with The Big Deal, a business that focuses on Collective Switching to utilise the power of collective bargaining to get customers good deals on clean energy switches. In the evening, I had the pleasure to sponsor Rotary Great Britain and Norther Ireland’s event Purple4Polio, focused on raising awareness and ending polio worldwide.
On Thursday I met with Christopher Harwood from Sustainable Marine Energy, and spent the afternoon in the chamber listening to the debate on Scotland’s Social Enterprise.
On Friday I went to the official launch of The Oil and Gas Technology Centre in Aberdeen, where I was able to hear from Paul Wheelhouse, Scotland Dunlop, and Sirlan Wood. The need for innovation has never been more urgent.