Peter's constituency includes Cardenden and Kinglassie

'DONALD Trump’s election as President of the USA came at the end of the most vicious and negative campaign I’ve ever seen. Mr Trump is possibly the first person ever to be elected because his supporters didn’t believe most of his campaign promises. We all have to hope he doesn’t carry them out because he promised to turn the USA into an isolationist fascist state where being Muslim, Hispanic or gay meant you were a second class human being. Even if he backtracks on all the inflammatory comments he made in order to get elected, the fact that so many decent ordinary people were prepared to vote for him is a chilling echo of events nearer to home ninety years ago.

Brexit Shambles

It’s clear that the UK Government has no idea of what relationship they want to have with the rest of the world after leaving the EU. There’s near unanimous support in Scotland for seeking to retain full membership of the Single Market. The Tories seem to change their minds on this every time they open their mouths. They’re also determined to carry out the negotiations in complete secrecy with no input from MPs. These negotiations will have a huge impact on all our lives for decades to come. It’s unacceptable for elected MPs and devolved national governments to be excluded from them.

Benefit Sanctions

On December 2 my colleague Mhairi Black will present a Bill to Parliament to change the rules about Benefit Sanctions. The current rules can mean vulnerable people get their benefits stopped for the flimsiest of reasons, leaving them with nothing to live on for weeks until the problem is sorted out. Mhairi’s Bill would at least force the DWP to consider the claimant’s full circumstances before they could be sanctioned. If you’ve been affected by benefit sanctions please contact me (or Roger Mullin if you live in the Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath constituency).

End of an Era

This week sees Alex Burns standing down as chair of Cardenden Community Council after an astonishing 27 years of service. Alex has been a great champion for the ABCD villages and a staunch supporter of not just the Community Council but many other local organisations. He’s been a stalwart in the campaign to preserve the memory of John Thomson, playing a big part in organising the annual football tournaments in his honour, and was instrumental in ensuring that Thomson took his rightful place in the SFA Hall of Fame. Thank you Alex'.