I recently spoke in the debate in the Scottish Parliament following the launch of the Scottish Government’s consultation on the future of the Scottish planning system. I have been supportive of the fact that planning reform is long overdue and it will be important to try to consult as widely as possible if we […]
The levels of funding going into schools for teaching and learning is not enough to meet the growing challenges schools face. That was the main argument made by mid Scotland and Fife MSP Alex Rowley this week when he spoke in a debate in Parliament on the government draft budget. Mr Rowley was also […]
I have attended a number of events in Parliament that aimed to highlight the need for a cure for Type 1 diabetes and I have heard first hand from those who have this condition about the impact it has on their daily lives. There are many local campaigners who I am committed to work […]
A conference held in Kelty this weekend heard from a number of academics and politicians and debated the merits of introducing a Citizens Basic Income that would see every person receive a basic income. The idea is creating interest across the world and there are pilots running in Finland, India, Canada, Switzerland and Pakistan. […]
This week I opened the debate in the Scottish Parliament on the Scottish Budget. Labour brought this debate to the parliament as we want to encourage wider discussion in the Parliament and across the country, and to build a consensus about the kind of public services that we want in Scotland and how […]
Following the debate that set the council budget in place, I wrote to Derek Mackay, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Constitution, asking if he was willing to bring parties together for a discussion on how to progress with a better and fairer system of local taxation. A few months previously he had mentioned […]
Members of St Kenneth’s Primary School Pupil Council made a visit to the Scottish Parliament to see round the building and hear how Scotland’s seat of government works. The pupils also met with MSP Alex Rowley and put questions to him about the parliament, the issues it deals with and how this impacts on […]
It was a great pleasure to join with coaches and gymnasts at the weekend to celebrate the new home of Acrobay Gymnastics Trust, a non-profit organisation, now based at their new purpose built gymnastics facility on Primrose Lane, Rosyth. The club has recently transformed the new premises in Rosyth into a state of the […]
Please see below a copy of the speech delivered by Alex Rowley MSP at the launch of the Scottish Labour Local Government Manifesto “I would like to welcome everyone here today and wish you all the very best for 2017. In just 4 months’ time we will be asking people across Scotland to […]
The draft Scottish Government budget brought forward by Finance Secretary Derek Mackay at the end of the year will be scrutinised and debated in parliament in the coming weeks. The problem for many watching this process will be trying to determine who is actually telling the truth when it comes to what the budget […]