AS the Conservative government refuse to step up and contribute to solving the refugee crisis many people around Scotland are taking it upon themselves to organise and mobilise.

In Inverclyde, Colin Jackson is one point of contact. He has arranged drop-off points at the iZone in Nicolson Street Greenock, iZone Boglestone Port Glasgow, iZone King Street Gourock, Branchton community centre and Craigend resource centre.

Suitable donations are tents, ground sheets, plastic storage boxes (with lids), hygiene products, medical supplies, wellies, socks, waterproofs and winter clothing.

Colin can be contacted at UniteInverclyde@gmail.com Thanks Colin for putting this together.

Ten days of frenetic activity back at Westminster after summer recess and parliament goes back into recess for the conference season. You couldn’t make it up.

During summer recess while I was busy visiting over 50 local businesses and organisations, the Labour Party were busy electing a new leader.

It will be very interesting to see if under Jeremy Corbyn they will now work with us as an effective opposition at Westminster.

And finally it is exactly a year since we voted to stay in the United Kingdom and not one power has been devolved, not one promise kept.

I remember those days before the 18th, the possibilities and the expectations. Then hope was destroyed by fear. A web of deceit was used by the coalition of Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrats to manipulate the electorate of Scotland.

One year on we have a Conservative government at Westminster, a completely ineffective Labour opposition, the Liberal Democrats are practically extinct and the SNP are going from strength to strength.

The SNP will use that strength to both govern Scotland responsibly and fight the Conservatives austerity programme every step of the way. I would appeal to the electorate of Inverclyde to stay engaged with politics and when the next referendum comes around consider who has Scotland’s interests at heart.