Thanks for your support

I would like to thank local people for helping to reelect me as your local MP in the UK Parliament in the General Election on 6 May. I will continue to do my best to work for everyone in our community, whatever their views.
 
I think there will be difficult times ahead for our local community. The decision by the coalition government to bring forward big cuts in expenditure could affect many people, and we have already seen the difficulties caused to local schools and to many community groups caused by cuts imposed by the local council.  I believe that people on low and middle incomes should not be the ones who have to bear the burden of cuts in services and incomes – and I shall be arguing for that in Westminster.

Meanwhile, my local constituency office is now open again for normal business, and my regular Friday surgeries have now started again. No appointment is necessary. Details of times and venues are given in my advert elsewhere in this issue of the NEN.

Repair our roads and pavements

One of the big local issues raised in the election campaign was the condition of many of our roads and pavements. Earlier this year, the then Chancellor or the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, announced an extra £100 million to help repair roads and pavements. Scotland’s share was about £8 million, and Edinburgh should have got about £1 million. However, the Scottish Government decided to spend this money on other things, and so the backlog of road and pavement repairs has got worse. I intend to campaign with my local Scottish Parliament and council colleagues to get our share of this money, which could certainly help to deal with the atrocious condition of some of our local streets.

Visits to local groups

I am always keen to visit local groups to keep in touch with their activities. I am also happy to come along and talk and answer questions about my work as an MP. If you would like to arrange a visit, please contact my office to arrange a suitable time. You can also contact my office if you or your group would like to arrange a visit to the Houses of Parliament.