You could be forgiven if you missed my
maiden speech in Parliament last Wednesday.
It came just a couple of hours after George
Osbourne gave his first fully Conservative budget, which naturally hogged the
headlines.
That maiden speech, however, means that
restrictions as to how often I can speak in Parliament have been lifted and I
can now fully engage in all parliamentary processes.
It also gave me the chance to highlight the
decades of neglect that our constituency has faced under numerous UK
governments, whether Labour or Conservative.
Coming so soon after Osbourne’s Budget, it
also gave me the chance to highlight the dark times that lie ahead and the
outstanding work being carried out by one local charity to help those who are
facing the coming austerity without hope.
I was appalled to tell the House that the
biggest killer of young men in Scotland- by a street- was suicide.
But I was pleased to be able to tell them
that I was a patron of a Coatbridge charity Chris’s house, which is attempting
to address the despair that many young men are doubtless going to face, given
the scale of the cuts announced in last week’s budget.
Chris’s House stands for the Centre for
Help, Respite and Intervention Surrounding Suicide.
It’s a 24-hour operation aimed at helping
those most in need and run by North Lanarkshire woman Anne Rowan, who sadly
lost her own son to suicide.
It’s a great charity and one,
unfortunately, I fear we are going to have to rely on in years to come.
The delivery of my maiden speech also
allows me to get fully involved in Parliament and I have been appointed to
Stuart Hosie’s Treasury team with a focus on energy and climate change.
I am also on the Energy Bill committee and
will be looking closely at energy prices, clearly a major issue given the
recent finding that consumers have been overcharged by the tune of £1.2bn.
You may have noticed my comments in a
national newspaper concerning the housing and maintenance contract which North
Lanarkshire Council has with the firm Mears Scotland LLP.
The report from the auditor Scott Moncreiff
appears to raise more questions than answers. I can’t see this one going away
any time soon.
That Budget is going to hit low-income
families hard.
Some people might believe the spin that the
Conservatives are the party of the worker and the family but this Budget shows
this is not the case.
Given there are now no tax credits for
third children, it reminds me of Chariman Mao’s one-child policy.
We are now holding regular surgeries around
the constituency and plan more.
Please look out for us in your area. It’s
your chance to tell us what you think we should be doing.