I recently met with the team at the Whitekirk Hill Leisure facilities between North Berwick and Dunbar. It was great to see the significant work done by the staff and management there to allow them to open their café and restaurant safely on a limited basis, and it was great to see visitors enjoying the gorgeous views over the East… Read more »
In my column in this week’s East Lothian Courier I discuss wearing masks, and getting the balance right between ensuring safe spaces for people in our communities and designing appropriate responses to local issues. “Remembering to take a mask can be frustrating when you’ve left home without one. I’ve started keeping them in different pockets and in the car or… Read more »
In my column in the Scotsman I have written about the need for greater care for our countryside from visitors, in light of concerning recent reports from across Scotland, including in East Lothian. “The right to roam runs deep in the Scottish soul. People were rightly angered by being excluded from land that they saw as their birthright and progress… Read more »
A new report from Warwick University, supported by the CAGE Research Centre, suggests that people in East Lothian are already worse off by an average of £273.54 per person, and East Lothian as a whole is over £28 million worse off because of the Brexit vote. The report uses figures that run up to the end of 2019 and therefore… Read more »
I am encouraging locally-run shops and independent retailers in East Lothian’s towns and villages to enter Indie Retail’s Best Small Shops competition. The competition is free to enter and, according to Indie Retail, an organisation that promotes independent retail, “celebrates not only the commitment and creativity of entrepreneurial independent retailers on the UK’s High Streets but also, the central role… Read more »
In this week’s column in the East Lothian Courier I discuss our need to ‘ca’ canny’ as we head towards our new normal. “Getting out to shops, cafes and pubs is important for wellbeing, as much as our economy. I’ve enjoyed a coffee outdoors, nattering to friends and meeting with constituents. Simple things like that which we once took for… Read more »
I’m really pleased to support the East Lothian Courier’s Love Local Business campaign. While the governments rightly focus on maintaining the national economy, our high streets and local businesses are the backbone of our local economy here in East Lothian. We are rightly proud of our status as a tourist hub and we’re lucky to have so much choice in… Read more »
In my Column in the East Lothian Courier this week I discuss the importance of wearing masks at this time, as it becomes compulsory in shops as well as on public transport. London is a vast contrast to my more rural home. In some ways it was easier than my usual journey, with trains and subway quieter. However, everywhere, north… Read more »
I asked the Minister for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport about UK Government targets for Broadband and Mobile coverage. Good coverage is vital to keep our economy going and – most importantly – to keep up our connections with our friends and loved ones, however the UK Government’s current target for Scotland could leave many people (mainly in rural areas… Read more »
In my column in the Scotsman today I write about the potential for a wave of unemployment on a much wider scale than that faced in the 80s. “Job losses are mounting, and unemployment threatens to become a tidal wave. We’ve been through it in the 1980s with Thatcherism, but the coronavirus crisis threatens to be worse and the effects… Read more »