Well the wind of change sweeping
through Scotland gave us another win that night. John
was elected as local councillor with 50% of the vote
yes! 50% of the vote. Given that this is the last
election before the council elections next May it gave
us a boost to continue our campaign to take control of
South Lanarkshire Council next year. John will make a
great councillor and he was in the office the next day
getting down to business immediately.
Yesterday I had a wonderful visit
from my friend Gregoire Watupa. Gregoire is from Congo
and has lived in Scotland for a number of years now. He
is campaigning along with others from the Congolese
diaspora for a peaceful transition following the
elections in DRC. He along with his group attended the
Scottish Parliament and I was delighted to host the
visit. The group have put together a petition calling on
the UK government to put as much pressure as possible on
the outgoing government as possible to have a peaceful
hand over of power. One issue they wished to highlight
was the horrible truth of how rape is used as a weapon
of war, the figures quoted are 48 rapes per hour these
rapes are perpetrated on the women, children and men by
soldiers and rebels. It is a human cost that I find too
expensive and all nations of the world should be trying
to stop this heinous war crime.
The group were very pleased to be
accepted to the Scottish Parliament and they met a
number of other MSPs including James Dornan, Sandra
White, Humza Youssef, Bill Kidd, Linda Fabiani, John
Mason and Bob Doris. Here are some pics of their visit
and yes they did sing, play drums and had whistles. They
were a wonderful sight outside our Parliament.
So today I was off to the office of
Scotland’s First Minister to deliver on behalf of the
Scottish Congolese Coalition the petition they gave me
yesterday. As you can see our First Minister was
delighted to have accepted the petition. I will, along
with my colleagues will continue to seek peace and
justice for our brothers and sisters around the world.
I have lodged two very important
motions in the last week I think you will be interested
in them so here is the text.
That the Parliament is deeply
concerned by UK Government proposals to charge fees for
taking a claim to an employment tribunal and employment
appeal tribunal; notes that, under the options set out
in a consultation paper, prospective claimants could be
forced to pay between £150 and £1,750 before their case
is even heard; further notes that the consultation
contains proposals designed to limit the amount of
compensation that can be applied for and awarded;
believes that the introduction of upfront fees for
taking a claim to an employment tribunal unfairly weighs
the balance in favour of employers and against employees
and will lead to some employees, such as low-paid women
workers in South Lanarkshire and across the country,
being unable to seek redress for unfair treatment;
further believes that forcing people to pay before they
can access an employment tribunal is a wholly
inappropriate way of generating public funds; further
believes that the right to protection against unfair or
prejudicial treatment at work, to seek justice if such
treatment is experienced and to be compensated for harm
that has been done is a fundamental one that should be
available to all employees; further believes that the UK
Ministry of Justice’s proposals are an attack on
employment rights, and considers them to be unjust.
That the Parliament welcomes the new
Letter to Santa joint campaign by the Violence Reduction
Unit and Children 1st, which highlights the impact of
domestic abuse on the whole family at Christmas; notes
that the campaign was inspired by Children 1st
service-users who shared their experiences of Christmas
growing up in a home where domestic violence was
present; further notes that, according to the Violence
Reduction Unit, the Christmas period is a peak time for
domestic abuse incidents; believes that children who
witness domestic violence are also victims of it and can
experience lifelong effects as a result; commends the
work of Children 1st in supporting children who are
victims of domestic violence, and supports the aim of
the Letter to Santa campaign of encouraging anyone
concerned about a child experiencing violence in the
home this Christmas to contact ParentLine Scotland on
0800 028 2233.
Last week I spoke in a debate about
our plans to integrate health and social care with a
view to ensuring that people have a seamless health care
service.
Tonight we had a vote on the
legislative consent memorandum about the changes to the
welfare system. For once Labour and the SNP joined
forces to roundly condemn the UK Government for changes
to the welfare system that will have a serious
detrimental impact on some of the most vulnerable people
in our society. For the first time ever we voted against
the plans of the UK I believe we did the right thing and
that Scotland will not be bumped into accepting changes
that are not good for Scotland. We stood up against the
worst elements of UK rule but the only way we can truly
make the changes we need is to vote YES in the
referendum and allow Scotland to be free to make her own
choices unburdened by Westminster.
I am off home now to prepare my home
and family for a peaceful Christmas and a very Happy New
Year. Can I wish you all the same and let’s hope next
year is as exciting as last year.
