Our hard-working A+E, ambulance and NHS staff try their best to meet rising demand but blocks in the system particularly social care/delayed discharge creates a patient flow issue. As my story in the Greenock Tele well proves! 📰👀

The “new” 7 years late, 3 times over budget one year old MV Glen Sannox seems to be off for repairs more than the 42 year old MV Isle of Arran. The whole network is in utter chaos this weekend. How anyone on an island community can put an X in the box next to the SNP this May 🤦‍♂️

A year flies by. My thoughts today are with the friends and family of Christina Mckelvie. I know she is keenly missed. I promised her family that I, as others would, continue to flame her many passions in politics. It’s been quite the year, but I hope I’ve lived up to that promise.

A year just flies by. My thoughts today are with the friends and family of Christina Mclelvie who I know is keenly missed. I made a promise to her family that there are those of us in politics who would continue to carry the flames of her many passions. I hope I’ve lived up to that promise.

As my granny Greene used to say, if you’ve got nothing nice to say, then say nothing at all. Seems like Reform have got the message… #scottishpolitics #reform #libdems

If this is my final contribution to Parliament, then I hope it serves as my legacy message to future parliaments and politicians. If it sounds deeply personal, it's because it is. The public deserve better politics. It must serve not repress those with the quietest voices. #FMQs

Whatever your politics, there's one thing we must all agree on, and call out without fear or favour. This kind of politics lives in the gutter. End of. Racism is racism no matter how hard you mask it. Only one day since Reform’s candidate launch and one’s already been suspended.

Ahead of the Greyhound Ban Bill yesterday I took sage advice from those with lived experience of it. After much discussion and deliberation, we concurred after ten years in politics to support it, and that we both needed a good lie down.

I commend ALL MSPs who spoke so eloquently in the Assisted Dying debate. Those in favour, against and undecided found a way to have a respectful and meaningful debate. All we could do is speak from the heart on a tough subject. I tried to do the same. It deserved nothing less.

Last week we spent 24 hours debating amendments to the Assisted Dying Bill. I appreciate there are strongly held views on all sides of the debate and I’d like to think we carried ourselves respectfully. Many of us spent the weekend reflecting carefully on it all, tomorrow we vote on the final Bill

Last week was Scottish Apprenticeship Week. I had the great pleasure of getting out and about in Greenock to meet a bunch of young folk who have taken up amazing opportunities. It’s time to put apprenticeships up there with degrees in my view! There’s something for everyone out there!

Today we enter day 3 of the expected 26 hrs+ of amendments to the Assisted Dying Bill. Arguably the biggest/most important law any of us have grappled with. I’m grateful to those who have written to me and rest assured I am giving every single amendment very serious consideration

Scottish Govt health & social care spending is expected to rise to half of all spending, analysts predict. You could argue that’s good, but it leaves half the pie to fund what keeps people healthy: warm homes, jobs, addiction, education and sport. Prevention better than cure no?

With just weeks till my second term in office ends, I used my last “business slot” in Holyrood to recap on the decade long ferry crisis which has engulfed so many of my constituents’ businesses and lives. We can but hope the next Parliament delivers better for our islands.

The world has become a much more dangerous place this past week. History tends to judge those who shape it, for the better or otherwise. Removing oppressive dictators, without a plan, doesn’t seem to end well for anyone. #politics #trump #iran

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi hapus iawn i'm holl ffrindiau Cymru heddiw! 🌼 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Last year I forced the govt to accept a change in the law that victims must be notified when a case is dropped or a decision not to prosecute is taken. We're still waiting for it to be implemented. Not answers. No timelines. #ukpolitics #justice #scotland

There needs to be a sensible, legally sound, constitutionally solid, and challenging but respectful conversation about the role of the Lord Advocate. Anything less is irresponsible and politically motivated. #ukpolitics #fmqs #scotland

I’m really grateful to the many charities, third sector groups, and trade bodies who've worked with me these last few months to push the govt for more cash/support in the Scottish budget. We’d all like it to have gone further but I squeezed what I could out of it, in opposition.

A wee look back at our party conference this weekend. Great event; loads of happy faces. And yes, they even have proper policy debates! Who knew! Winning feels good for a change :) #politics #ukpolitics #libdems

Thanks to MSP @jamiegreeneuk.bsky.social for coming to visit our stand and recognising the case for a Scottish Paths Fund. #SLDconf

A productive first day for #MEAction Scotland's volunteers at the Scottish Liberal Democrats Spring Conference. Today we have engaged with a range of prospective candidates as well as MPs and MSPs @mpsusanmurray.bsky.social @cajardinemp.bsky.social and @jamiegreeneuk.bsky.social#MEAction#MyalgicE

Holyrood needs new faces and fresh ideas. Our candidates for the 2026 election are top notch. It was great to meet some of them this weekend 👀 👇 #libdems #scotland #ukpolitics

People are sick of being told what they want or need by politicians, we're in the business of listening instead. It was great to see so many campaign groups come to our conference. They know we get stuff done! #politics #charity #libdems #ukpolitics

Scottish Lib Dem Spring conference kicked off today in Edinburgh with a real buzz in the air. I've honestly never been to a party conference with so many happy faces before. (Trust me!) We have TEN target constituencies in our sights and all the polls suggest we can smash it.

FREEDOM! You can redact our documents, but you can never hide the truth!* *small print, they do hide quite a lot actually. FOI laws need to change, sadly the government didn't agree!

First they came for the Presiding Officer Then they came for the Lord Advocate Corrupt judiciary, they cry Politically biased, they claim Sack them, they shout The rule of law doesn’t matter, they rage Doesn’t all this feel so dangerously familiar? Conspiracy theories won’t fix politics!

Residents in my area don’t feel safer, or feel like policing has improved, or that crime is taken seriously. Spouting stats about no. of officers per capita is meaningless if people don’t feel safe Frontline officers are being asked to do more with with less in the absence of other public services.👇

There are three types of political opposition: - Opposition for opposition sake - Endless opposition who no one will work with - Or opposition which gets stuff done. In my nearly ten years in politics I put myself unashamedly in the third category. 👇

I spent 9 years on the Tory benches and didn’t extract a penny out of a single Scottish budget. angry press release, social media clip, opposition for opposition sake. One year on, I led a 3 month negotiation to squeeze £300M more out of government. No wonder the Tories are fuming. #properpolitics

Today I’ve written to key sectors ahead of the Scottish budget outlining my priorities in negotiations. We need more 💷 support for: 🧡 Social care providers 🍻 Hospitality (pubs, hotels and restaurants) 🏥 and our amazing hospice sector. 👇

In the stage 1 budget announcements tommorrow I want to see more support for: 🏥 our vital hospice sector 🧡 our social care sector 🎶 🍻 and our hospitality sector If the First Minister can rise to the challenge at #FMQs, then there’s a deal to be done. Let’s see 👀

👀 www.heraldscotland.com/news/2583286...

I’m sad to learn this. No least after my posts this week of cancer awareness. Jeanne and I were part of the 2016 cohort of MSPs. We all lived the Covid days in Parliament together and personally we got on really well. Condolences to her partner and wider family www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Today is #WorldCancerDay2026 I know there many “days” which raise awareness of a variety of causes but this week, for two very personal reasons, I am reminded that someone is diagnosed with cancer every 75 seconds. Be kind to each other, every day counts www.macmillan.org.uk/cancer-aware...

It may not merit top news story on the BBC this morning, but to the TEN and a HALF THOUSAND children in Scotland without a proper home, it is news to them. It’s a complete national scandal actually. 👇 👀 Record number of children in temporary housing 📰 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

By anyone’s standards this is a stonking victory. The Tories went from first to sixth place. The SNP and Reform massively under performed despite the hype. Labour struggled. This is what you get when you knock on every door in the ward, congrats Ben. Next task: May election gain!

I’ve been hosting roundtables with tourism, hospitality and self-catering bodies these past weeks and they’ve been clear: new business rates will send some to the wall. I’m pushing the Scottish Government to pass on UK gov relief and go further to take the burden off business 👀

With so much uncertainty, topsy turvy diplomacy and upheaval I’ve written to the Chancellor @RachelReevesMP calling for a cut to whisky duty to help Scotland’s finest export (alongside salmon of course) get through these tough times. I hope the UK Gov will raise a dram and agree to it! 🥃

“The irony is that those who complain most about Britain’s waning influence in the world are the same ones who complain about our development budget.” Quite right Dave. 📖 👀

If economic bullying from Trump messes with Scottish whisky exports, apart from calling him out, the UK government could show solidarity and make an immediate 5% cut to whisky duty to help the industry out. POTUS might not like a wee dram, but the rest of the world does! 🥃 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Fantastic to host the Scottish Tourism Alliance round table today in the Scottish Parliament. Mid budget, elections looming and clear asks for help and support of govt - it’s a critical time for Scotland’s amazing tourism sector. Take it for granted at our peril!

Yesterday I wrote for the @TheScotsman on why solely chucking money at the NHS alone won’t fix waiting lists, delayed discharge or keep people out of hospital in the first place. Audit Scotland said it first, perhaps it’s time we started to talk about preventative spend too. 👇

Today I’ve written to Reform UK’s new Scotland branch manager with a couple of pretty straight forward questions. Perhaps Lord Offord can answer in writing that which he was unable to do in an interview. And whilst he’s at it, apologise to ITVs Peter Smith!

More secret fat cat payoffs in public bodies. If it wasn’t for FOI and journos at The Herald we’d probably never have found out. Ministers seem furious, so am I. And so are the public! 👀 👇 www.heraldscotland.com/news/2576233...

The budget process isn’t a one off event: The draft is out, and yes many of my key asks are in it, but now the real hard work starts, talking to stakeholders. Let me say clearly, I’ll be trying to squeeze every penny I can out of it to support as many sectors as I can. #SensiblePolitics

If the budget is to pass, the question to opposition politicians is simply this: what are you getting out of it? If you ask for nothing, nothing is offered. If you make demands, they largely go unheeded. If you sit round the table and have a grown up conversation….

I have selected 2 topical questions to be asked in @parliament.scot this afternoon. 1. @jamiegreeneuk.bsky.social to ask The Scottish Government for its response to reports that the former chief executive of CalMac received a severance package exceeding £170,000.

Today is Budget day. I’ve been clear that I am approaching the budget process responsibly but robustly. My key areas of focus are on fixing: - social care and delayed discharge - the college sector crisis - equity of access to childcare And supporting Scottish businesses. 👂

With all eyes on the budget I want to see both of Scotland’s governments support business and grow the economy. I had the pleasure of visiting Brodie Engineering to see first hand how we support the next generation of engineers, and how we keep the country and economy moving! 🚆