AN unexpected piece of casework landed on my desk recently.

It was a wedding car hire company that was extremely concerned that the Air Weapons and Licensing Act, passed through the last term of parliament, was coming into effect and had repercussions on the industry.

It seems, unbeknown to many in the ‘car hire’ industry, that the use of their vehicles for other occasional work would require additional burdensome licencing. 

I have taken the matter up with the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and asked a number of Parliamentary questions on this issue. 

This rushed through legislation had a number of unintended consequences which were not properly thought through. If this affects your business locally I would be interested to hear from you.

This past week has also seen much talk of the legal process through which UK ministers can trigger Article 50. 

I think it is important to note that over one million Scots voted for Brexit, admittedly for many different reasons, but ultimately that the decision was made by the UK, as a whole. The same UK which Scotland voted to remain a part of in 2014.

I joined the Scottish Parliament because I believe that it has an important role to play in governing many aspects of everyday life in Scotland. Your health service. The education of your children. The justice system we rely on. Our Police force. 

I am disappointed by the disproportionate amount of time that the SNP spends in the debating chamber talking about Brexit, Westminster and generally about constitutional matters which have not yet occurred.

I hope that soon the Scottish Government will start using valuable parliamentary time to start debating the issues that MSPs were elected to discuss.

One final point, I will soon be opening my new regional office in Largs.

I welcome a new member of staff, Tricia, to the team who will very pleased to hear from you with your worries, concerns and casework. More details to follow.