One of the first experiences that I had in understanding poverty was when, as a child, I was in a graveyard and came across an area with no headstones, which I was told was the area of the paupers’ graves. At the weekend, I watched the film “I, Daniel Blake” and heard the […]
This week I spoke in the Scottish Government debate on their strategy document for a Fairer Scotland, where they have set out 50 actions they plan to take to achieve this goal. It is clear that the Westminster Government’s policies in areas like welfare reform have had the impact of creating a growth in […]
I recently spoke in a debate in the Scottish Parliament on the devolution of employment services. This topic is becoming increasingly important as we see the effects of austerity push people further and further away from the job market. But, we do have an opportunity to get this right for every person that needs to […]
Local government services are buckling at the seams. All across the country we are seeing more and more strain being placed on public services. Since the SNP have come to Government, the number of elderly people in Scotland getting care at home has fallen 12%. Since 2011, the Government has cut more than […]
On Tuesday, I spoke in the Scottish Government Programme for Government Debate and highlighted that we need to work together to deliver the change we need to see. There are lots of positives in the Programme for Government on which parties should be able to work together and bring about improvement across Scotland. I […]
TEXT – Motion: S4M-15290 Alex Rowley: Achieving Social and Economic Success for all of Scotland—That the Parliament believes that current levels of poverty and inequality are of great concern and commits to using the full powers at its disposal to achieve the social and economic success that all of Scotland needs. Presiding officer, […]
On Tuesday, the first day back after the Christmas recess, I spoke in the Scottish Government debate on: Supporting Public Services, Tackling Inequality and Growing Scotland’s Economy. Whilst I welcomed the debate these are big issues each in themselves and we cannot give any of these subjects justice in a half day debate in the […]
This week I spoke in the debate on employment and set out the levels of unemployment and underemployment, the extent of low wages, and poor terms and conditions that exist. These are the major challenges for Scotland if we are to tackle both inequality and poverty in order to create a fairer and more just […]
I welcomed yesterdays Scottish parliament debate and the consensus that there was in the chamber. While I acknowledged that there are different views around this debate, although it is a minority of people who could be described as having such attitudes, it is for that reason that we need to continue to have this wider […]
Three West Fife women performed a “thought-provoking and provocative” social piece about life in Inverkeithing’s Fraser Avenue at the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday night and met with Scottish Labour leader kezia dugdale to discuss the initiative and how much they have overcome to develop the performance. Mary Thomson , Heather Kernachan and Muriel Houston who come from […]