If you live in a Council house in West Lothian, your rent will be going up by 3% next year. 

The Council's decision will hit people who are struggling with rising fuel costs and reduced income. It's the wrong thing to do in the middle of a pandemic when so many are furloughed or have lost their jobs. In Edinburgh, Liberal Democrat Councillors worked with other parties to vote down similar plans. If I had been a Councillor, I would have opposed the rise. It's the wrong thing to do. 

Last night I attended an incredibly moving and humbling event at the Scottish Parliament run by the Scottish Women’s Convention to mark International Women’s Day

We all know how amazing and resilient our health and care workers have been, nursing and comforting their patients, but hearing them talk about their experiences really brought home the extent of the personal sacrifices they have made and the impact on them.

It has been shocking to learn this week that West Lothian has reported the greatest increase in domestic violence incidents in Scotland in the past year, up by a staggering 18%. It is true to say that West Lothian is one of the few councils in Scotland that core fund a Domestic Abuse and Sexual Assault Team and that the work of this team may have resulted in greater numbers of cases being reported, but their undoubtedly important work cannot account for such a huge rise, and there can be no question that that this not a league table that West Lothian wants to be at the head of.

Virtually everybody I have spoken to in Livingston South during these past few months has told me how absolutely fed up they are with the amount of litter in our green spaces.