‘The House of Commons has been in “recess” since 21st July. I managed to get a week away in Spain with a group from the church I attend, but for the rest of the time the recess has certainly not been a holiday.

We’ve finally seen some real progress with my constituency office in Glenrothes and last week I was able to give firm offers of employment to three exceptional candidates who are due to start working for me towards the end of the month. This will make a huge difference to the speed with which I can respond to issues in the constituency.

The summer is often a quiet time for political activity but not this year. The council’s proposal to close sixteen libraries in Fife, including six in my constituency, has provoked a big public response. I’ve spoken at several events in support of campaigns to keep these vital local services open.

The threat to these libraries stems from the budget decision by Fife Council as far back as February 2013. I have documents proving that for months before they chose to cut the budget for Fife Cultural Trust, councillors had been warned by their own officers that it would probably mean libraries had to close.

The council chose to keep this information secret, and in their budget “consultation” they avoided all mention of closures.

The warnings from council managers only became public four months after the budget meeting when I won an appeal against the council under Freedom of Information laws.

This meant that even after the council had decided to cut the budget of Fife Cultural Trust the public were not told about the impact this would have.

The council went so far as to issue an official statement in which Alex Rowley, then the council leader, said that the Cultural Trust had given an assurance that no facilities would need to close as a result of the budget cut.

This raises serious questions for either the Trust or the council. If the Trust did indeed give these promises in 2013 they should not be allowed to renege on them now. On the other hand if Fife Cultural Trust never gave these assurances then the official statement from the council was untrue.

Libraries are much more than places where you can borrow books and CDs. They provide a social hub for communities, they complement the work of our schools in encouraging young people to learn, and they are often the only place people can go to complete the online forms they have to fill in to claim the benefits they’re entitled to. It would be wrong to close down these much needed local facilities. It would be unforgivable to do this as a result of a budget consultation in which the people of Fife were misled’.