A Week In Parliament

PMQ

I was lucky enough to come out the ballot in first place for another shot at a PMQ. The main topic within Westminster is Brexit and it was suggested to myself to lead for the SNP on this. However, I had a far more pressing constituent case to highlight – Pauline Hunt, received a kidney transplant, which in her words, has given her a “death sentence” due to receiving a malignant kidney. She became seriously ill post operation but it still took time to diagnose the cancer from the kidney which had then spread. A tragic way to pick up this disease.

The transplant service “NHS Blood and Transport” is a UK wide function answerable to the UK Government. So although health is generally a devolved matter, this is why I raised it at PMQs. They have been slow at releasing information to Pauline to allow us to get answers on what went wrong; whether this was preventable and what lessons can be learned for the future. They have a responsibility to do such a review themselves, and this is what I am asking for – and to make sure it links up with the Scottish NHS in case there are lessons to be learned from the post operation processes and what Pauline believes to be clear warning signs not picked up. She and her family deserve answers.

Euro Elections

Thursday May 23rd sees the poll for the European elections – the elections Theresa May repeatedly stated would never happen. According to the Tory Government, it is still possible the MEPs elected won’t get to take their place in Parliament. Is it little wonder that there is confusion and that some voters are asking why bother to vote? I would suggest it is always worth casting your vote. It only ever suits the Government of the day or the establishment if you do not vote. If you want to maintain a status quo, then of course a positive vote for it is the best way to ensure that remains the case.

We now have two new parties to choose from – the Brexit Party and Change UK. With the usual media coverage given to Nigel Farage, then it seems likely the Brexit Party will do well. If you don’t believe in his right wing politics then I suggest you will need to vote accordingly. Change UK seem less likely to fare well, and their own candidate in Scotland now claims to support another party. Instead of changing UK Politics, it must be embarrassing to pick such a charlatan that he has changed his party so quickly!

I would argue that the SNP have been the only party that has been consistent. There are various predictions of how well the SNP will do but this all depends on turnout as much as votes cast. For political geeks, the count on Sunday May 25th will be interesting because of the variables and the clear volatility in politics at the moment. For too many people, I fear they won’t care either way.

These view were first expressed in the Kilmarnock Standard.