We have all watched in horror the humanitarian crisis caused by Vladimir Putin and his inexcusable invasion of Ukraine.
Putin, and other authoritarian dictators must not succeed in such attacks on, not just the people of Ukraine, but on the concepts of democracy, freedom and the rule of law.
I welcome the military support and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, as well as the sanctions placed on the Putin regime, that have been introduced by the UK Government and our allies.
So far the UK has supplied Ukraine almost £400 million in financial aid and $500 in loan guarantees.
We have trained 22,000 Ukrainian soldiers and supplied over 3,600 anti-tank missiles.
The Home Office is doing all it can to make it easier for Ukraine nationals to enter the UK safely and legally.
The family migrant route has already been expanded to cover a wider range of extended family members, the term of visa increased from 12 months to 3 years and normal language and salary requirements have been waived.
And, from Tuesday 15 March, Ukrainians with passports coming to the UK under the Ukraine Family Scheme can apply online – speeding up the application process and making sure they can get to safety quickly.
The UK Government will also provide an uncapped humanitarian sponsorship pathway to open up routes for Ukrainians who may not have family ties with the UK but who are able tomatch with individuals, charities, businesses, and community groups, who volunteer to support Ukrainians in need.
Details of all of these schemes are available on gov.uk and of course my office is open to assist constituents with individual cases – particularly those with family members.
My colleague Douglas Ross led a debate in the House last week about postal delivery chargesin the North of Scotland.
Delivery charges to the northeast are all too often unfair due to a highly misguided perceptionthat we are not on the ‘UK mainland.’
Some companies look to charge extortionate fees for delivering to ‘IV’ and ‘AB’ postcodes when others are able to deliver at no extra cost than anywhere else.
And some companies won’t deliver to these locations at all!
As I pointed out in the debate, these companies are actually doing themselves out of a lucrative customer base
Like Douglas, I will continue to push companies to remove these unfair charges.
And, at Holyrood, my Scottish Conservative colleague, Murdo Fraser MSP, has introduced a Bill in the Scottish Parliament aiming to tackle the ineffective fly tipping laws currently in place.
The Bill would substantially increase the penalty imposed on perpetrators and also ensure the person on whose land or property waste is dumped is not responsible in law for its removal – something I know will be welcome news to many local farmers, who are often faced with the costs of clearing up the mess.
When I toured the constituency last Summer, fly-tipping was among the chief concerns raised by residents.
Finally, I was delighted to help Alvah and Forglen Community Council plant trees along the banks of the Deveron at Mountblairy recently as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy – a UK-wide initiative to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee and to promote the importance of trees to the environment.
To find out how you can plant a tree, follow this link https://queensgreencanopy.org/get-involved/plant/