Columns and Opinions

The announcement of an hours reduction at Turriff Hospital’s minor injuries unit has been a real blow to the community and those who represent it.

Climate change has been at the forefront of the political agenda in recent months.

The UK Government has become the first of the G7 nations to commit in law to reducing carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.

I am very pleased to hear that, following an appeal for new members, the St Marnans Sports Club have had a productive AGM and filled their committee.

There has been a lot of coverage in recent weeks about the future of minor injury units here in Banff and in Turriff.

Understandably, there has been concern about any suggestion of a downgrade in services provided locally. 

It is Mental Health Awareness Week and it is clear that Scotland’s mental health services are falling far short of what is needed.

A number of those who are affected by are children and young adults born with genetic and undiagnosed conditions like 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q).

We are at the threshold of a new era for power generation, which will provide green power while boosting the UK economy.

I’m glad that climate change is firmly back on the political agenda, most notably the Committee on Climate Change’s report, which was published on Thursday.

In a very informative couple of sessions at the Scottish Affairs Select Committee on Tuesday and Wednesday, I heard evidence from banking figures as to their take on the wave of branch closures we have seen in the last few years.

Last week at Westminster, the business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) committee published a report on the need to accelerate the development of carbon capture, storage and utilisation (CCUS) technology.

I was saddened to hear of the death of a creel fisherman after an incident off the Banffshire coast last week.

Media reports suggested that a fellow fisherman had alerted the emergency services after the man fell into the water near Macduff.

As an MP with a large rural constituency, I like to know how communities outside towns feel about their safety.

Rural crime is on the increase and I know that acquisitive theft – for example tractors or metal from less well protected farms – is a large part of that.