Last year, it was announced that the Scottish Boundary Commission was considering changing the Clydebank and Milngavie constituency to the Bearsden, Milngavie, and Clydebank North Constituency.
This would have seen Clydebank split in two and caused a lot of concern in the community.
As someone who has represented Clydebank for many years, as a local councillor and now as your MSP, I was appalled by this proposal.
Clydebank is a distinct community, and the proposals would have, in my opinion, damaged long-existing community relationships and harmed the ongoing efforts to regenerate Clydebank.
After holding a local inquiry in December, I am glad the Boundary Commission have listened to the views of my constituents and I, and recently amended the plans.
Under the new plans, the constituency will remain named as Clydebank and Milngavie and will only see a slight boundary change.
In Parliament, we recently debated the 7th anniversary of the two-child benefit cap and abhorrent rape clause.
This continues to be one of the cruellest UK Government policies, affecting 530 households in West Dunbartonshire.
Not only is it an inhumane and cruel policy, but it simply hasn’t worked.
It was believed that its introduction would provide incentives for people to find more work and would influence decisions about having children. But this has failed miserably.
The London School of Economics three-year study found that there was no impact at all on employment rates, or on work hours and minimal impact upon birth rates.
The only thing this policy has achieved then, is an increase in child poverty rates.
Nearly half of UK children with two or more siblings now live in poverty, and this number is projected to rise sharply in coming years.
Fundamentally, the cap punishes children. It is ruining their life today and their future tomorrow.
With Keir Starmer expected to be the next Prime Minister, you may wonder if the Labour Party will scrap this policy, given, that’s what they said they would do in 2019.
The reality is, Keir Starmer and his Labour Party have said they will keep the two-child cap and rape clause.
This will be a deliberate and conscious decision to keep children in poverty.
It’s no surprise then, that people are wondering what the point is in voting Labour, when they will act no different to the Tories.
I am proud we have an SNP Scottish Government and Scottish social security system committed to dignity, fairness, and respect - one that will protect Scottish children, through for example, the Scottish Child Payment.
It is clear that only the SNP will protect children from poverty.
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