Rhoda Grant

The ongoing scenes of violence and destruction in Gaza are heartbreaking and completely unacceptable. The ongoing blockade of humanitarian aid is intolerable and must end.

Scottish Labour continues to demand an immediate return to ceasefire, immediate access to humanitarian aid, the immediate release of all hostages and a credible pathway to a two-state solution where the people of Israel and Palestine can both live in peace and security.

Labour is deeply committed to the upholding of international humanitarian law which is why the UK Government has supported actions to allow the ICC and ICJ freedom to do their important work. The UK Labour Government have also tightened up arms export controls and increased sanctions have been imposed on settlers because of the unacceptable and violent expansion of the West Bank.

It is important to separate Hamas from the Palestinian people, which is why the collective punishment of the Palestinian people must end. But it is also important to distinguish the Israeli people from Benjamin Netanyahu. It is clear that he and his and far-right government are now acting as a barrier to peace and long term security for the people of Israel and the region.

Labour have said that the UK Government will not stand by while the Netanyahu Government continues with these intolerable actions and escalation of conflict. It is not compatible with the values of our nation. If Israel does not cease the renewed military offensive and lift its restrictions on humanitarian aid, the Government have been clear in the joint statement issued this week with France and Canada that it is prepared to take further concrete actions in response.

Ultimately violence is not the answer, and peace will only come through dialogue and diplomacy. That will require renewed international efforts and is why the Labour Government continues to press and work with allies and international partners, to condemn the blockade, seek a return to ceasefire, demand the return of hostages and pursue negotiations on a long term peace settlement.

I share the heartbreak of what is happening in Gaza. We want the violence to stop immediately and to see a peaceful resolution that protects the sanctity of life regardless of people’s race, faith, nationality or background.

Dear Minister/Head of Ofgem/Scottish Gov Minister

We write a joint letter to express our deep concern on behalf of constituents across the Highlands and Islands, where the proposed Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) switch off on June 30th is causing high anxiety.

In the Western Isles around 75 per cent of households are still waiting for a smart meter to be installed and there is zero prospect of that being fulfilled before the deadline.

For those with dual control meters, many of them elderly, the threat is very real and could mean, at worst, a loss of heating and hot water, and at best, a hike in price with the resulting tariff change.

In the islands we already have the highest rates of fuel poverty in the UK and now look set to add insult to injury when the current system ends in June.

We urge the UK government and the industry regulator to step in on behalf of vulnerable consumers, by ensuring that households still waiting on a working smart meter at the end of June are moved on to the lowest tariff for every element of their electricity usage, including  heating and hot water previously delivered through dual tariff meters.

On that basis, we ask OFGEM to impose its proposed tightening of RTS licence conditions and go further by enforcing a commitment on no unit price rises for these households.

We look forward to a swift response and some immediate action to prevent this looming deadline causing further anxiety and leading to fuel poverty for our constituents.

Torcuil Crichton, MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar and Rhoda Grant, MSP for the Highlands and Islands

RHODA GRANT MSP ANNOUNCES DECISION TO STAND DOWN IN 2026

Long-standing Highlands and Islands Labour MSP Rhoda Grant has announced that she will not be seeking re-election at the next Scottish Parliament election.

Mrs Grant first became a Member of the Scottish Parliament upon its establishment in 1999 and has served in 5 of the 6 terms since then.

In respect of her decision, Mrs Grant said: “I have been honoured to represent the Highlands and Islands Region over the years, but it is now time to make way for others.

“I have loved representing my region alongside people, too many to mention, who have worked with me, challenged me and supported me.

“Unfortunately, after thinking long and hard about the demands of this role, I do not feel I can continue to give the time and commitment required to do it justice and therefore hand on the baton to others and will not stand at the next Scottish Parliament elections.

Mrs Grant continued: “The Scottish Labour Party has already selected a number of excellent candidates in the region including:

“Donald MacKinnon in Na h-Eileanan an Iar, who is a well-known crofter and community development worker who knows the Islands inside out.  I have known Donald for many years and am delighted he stands ready to represent these islands;

“Eva Kestner in Caithness Sutherland and Ross, who comes with a breadth of experience both within the public and voluntary sector.  Eva worked for me for many years in the Scottish Parliament and knows the area well.  It was difficult to lose her when she moved south to be with her husband, and I am delighted that they are returning; and

“Shaun Fraser in Inverness and Nairn, again someone I know well and have worked with for many years.  When I first met him, he worked in homelessness, helping support people into tenancies in the Highlands.  I watched proudly as his artistic career took off and I am so glad that he has been selected to stand to represent the Constituency.

“I also know there are other excellent candidates waiting to be selected for the other constituencies and regional list.  It therefore makes it easier for me to step back when I know there is such talent waiting in the wings.

“I want to thank all those who worked and supported me through the years, those who built a web of support and encouragement around me.  I also want to thank my team, present and past, who have worked hard for our constituents and our region.

“I do not think it is possible to entirely switch off from representing the region that I love and I will continue to push for improvement to our services and opportunities whenever that opportunity arises.”

As an MSP, Mrs Grant has served on a number of cross-party groups, including the Crofting CPG and co-convening CPGs on Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation. As a result of this she was invited to speak at a UN side event at the 67^th Session of the Commission on the status of Women in New York.

Her Member’ Bill on Domestic Abuse was adopted and became an act in April 2011 which made it an offence to engage in an abusive course of conduct against a current or ex-partner and she has served as the Labour spokesperson on a number of areas, including Rural and Islands; Women’s Equalities; Justice and Finance.

 

I have received an update from Openreach with more information on upgrading broadband across the region.

Earlier this month, the UK Labour Government announced that it is investing £157 million to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to rural and digitally excluded communities across Scotland. It is wonderful to see the difference a Government committed to improving the lives of everyone across all of the UK is making.

The upgrades, delivered by Openreach, will enable people in communities across the Highlands, Outer Hebrides, and hard-to-reach areas across most of Scotland to access new digital opportunities to work, learn, socialise and do business online.

Once complete, the upgrade will see around 65,000 homes and businesses in Scotland gain access to lightning-fast broadband for the first time, helping to break down barriers to opportunity and support local economic growth.

Connecting these premises would not be possible at this point without important BDUK funding for Project Gigabit.

Island communities, in particular, will see significant improvements, with homes and businesses across the Outer Hebrides as well as the isles of Skye, Islay and Tiree set to see their broadband speeds reach the same levels as Scotland’s urban and inner-city communities. The upgrade will also reach the most rural parts of the Highlands, including Durness, which is considered the most north-westerly village on mainland Britain.

Project Gigabit is designed to deliver broadband upgrades to parts of the country which are too difficult or expensive for providers to reach in their commercial build plans. For households, gigabit-capable broadband delivers faster speeds and fewer dropouts. Unlike traditional copper-based networks, gigabit connections won’t slow down at peak times and can easily handle over a hundred devices at once with no buffering.

Openreach said ‘delivering these upgrades is vital for local economic growth, and we know from research we undertook on the impact of Openreach commercial build, that connecting everyone in Scotland would bring a multi-billion pound productivity boost. Our full fibre network also enables thousands of people to move to Scotland and to our rural communities. We encourage residents to visit our Fibre Checker and sign up for personalised Full Fibre updates as the build progresses for their home or business”.

You can visit the Policy Hub, where you can find out more.

 

Parkinson’s UK in Scotland packed out The Scottish Parliament to showcase some of the ways people keep active to live well with Parkinson’s. I was delighted to attend and find out more about the fantastic work going on in my own area and across Scotland. Because living with Parkinson’s isn’t just about healthcare. People also need opportunities to reap the physical, mental and social benefits of being active and creative.

More than 200 people attended the event, including people with Parkinson’s and many activity providers, health professionals, researchers and supporters.

It was a brilliant celebration of the power of physical activity to help people live well with Parkinson’s.

 

Yesterday I raised a glass as I warmly welcomed the newly announced trade deal between the UK and India that has been lauded as “transformational” in opening Scotland’s premier products up to the world’s largest whiskey market.

Under the terms of the deal, the UK’s 150 per cent tariff on Scotch Whisky will be halved to 75 per cent, with the potential for further reductions in the coming years.

With 100 of Scotland’s 150 distilleries in my Highlands and Islands and Moray Constituency I fully agree with the Chief of the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA), Mark Kent, when he called it a “once in a generation” deal and a “landmark moment for Scotch Whisky”.

The agreement has the potential to increase Scotch Whisky exports to India by £1bn over the next five years and to create 1,200 jobs across the UK. India is the largest whisky-drinking market in the world, consuming almost half of all whisky consumed globally.

The trade deal is a huge achievement and must be seen as a major win for Prime Minister Keir Starmer for sealing this deal within 10 months after 8 years of a failure to do by the previous Conservative Government.

This deal cuts tariffs, boosts growth, and creates jobs. It shows that even when the global economic climate is uncertain, the Labour Government can be the adults in the room, grabbing opportunity and securing the future of the whisky industry which is so vital for the north of Scotland.

 

With Local Hero Marjory Jagger at the opening of the Parliament in 2016

I have lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament congratulating Skye and Lochalsh Young Carers on reaching their 25^th anniversary.  I have been glad to support the organisation since its establishment in 2000, inviting its then manager, Marjory Jagger, as my local hero to the opening of the Parliament at Holyrood in 2016.  The development of the service has been remarkable, from its inception when it supported 6 young carers per week to where it has now grown to the point with over 65 young people receiving support across the region, I also want to acknowledge the vital support provided from the local community who donate over 730 volunteer hours per week allowing the service to offer over 200 hours of one-to-one input every week and I look forward to the service achieving many more anniversaries serving the community of Skye and Lochalsh.

I today welcomed the UK Government’s £157m investment that will see remote areas of the Highlands and Islands offered gigabit-capable broadband. These areas have some of the UK’s slowest broadband speeds and this is tangible evidence the UK Labour Government is not only listening to the people in the Highlands and Islands but acting and delivering. Highlanders and those who live in the Hebrides have been asking the SNP Government for years to improve the digital infrastructure but the SNP’s R100 project is very behind schedule so to see our UK Labour Telecoms Minister grasp the thistle and sort this out is very encouraging.

The contract is the largest so far under Project Gigabit and for households and businesses in Skye, Islay, Tiree, Applecross, Durness and Stornoway to get the opportunity to benefit from highspeed broadband will make a huge difference and I thank Chris Bryant, Labour’s Telecoms Minister and his team for making it happen. For too long these communities have had to provide their own connectivity and that is simply unfair.

 

I am to meet with the Minister for Public Health, Jenny Minto, to discuss the ongoing concerns of constituents affected by chronic pain. I continue to press the Scottish Government on its attitude, and actions, towards Scotland’s 800,000 chronic pain sufferers, many of whom live within the NHS Highland board area.

This follows me having contacted the Scottish Government about the designation of a “no impact” pain category in a report which was funded by the Scottish Government.

In a letter replying to me  in December last year, the Minister admitted that this categorisation was introduced into the report at the behest of Scottish Ministers. The letter states “This term was proposed by the Scottish Government as a contraction of ‘did not experience any limitation on life or work activities over the past three months” and that “participants did not use the term “no impact” themselves.” .. “Whilst you rightly indicate that comments from these participants indicate that they had experienced impact at some point from chronic pain, they had, at the time of recruitment, told the recruiters that they currently did not experience any impact.”

The people who were categorised as having “no impact” from their pain were all from Inverness which escalates the concerns that the Scottish Government is intentionally downgrading pain services in the Highlands.

Freedom of Information requests have revealed that participants were paid £200 to take part in the survey, which was advertised on Facebook. The Minister also advised me in her letter that “The screening questionnaire did not directly ask participants about whether their condition had been diagnosed by a health professional.”

Freedom of Information requests have uncovered shocking testament which backs up the long held views of many pain sufferers that the Scottish Government is trying to downplay the impact long term pain has on 800,000 people throughout Scotland. Research carried out on behalf of the Scottish Parliament’s Cross-Party Group on Chronic Pain has uncovered deception and minimisation of the effects that chronic pain has on people’s lives, both physically and mentally. I welcome reports in The Herald this week that has now brought this issue to the forefront of Scottish politics.”

Responding to The Herald’s articles and specific questions on chronic pain, a Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We remain committed to improving the quality of life and wellbeing for people with chronic pain. Meaningful and transparent engagement with people living with chronic pain is a priority part of the improvement work set out in our Pain Management Service Delivery Implementation Plan. While we engage regularly with cross-party groups, they are informal groupings of MSPs and other people and groups with an interest in a specific subject which are not part of the formal parliamentary structure for scrutinising Government.”

For the Scottish Government to ignore genuine pain patients and pay others to get the results they want is beyond reproach, but to insult the efficacy of the Parliament’s Cross-Party Groups adds insult to injury. People attend these groups in a bid to bring the issue to the attention of the people who can make the decisions to improve their quality of life.

The report highlighted can be accessed via the following link:- Scottish Government Pain Management Panel

 

I was again honoured and privileged to attend the International Workers Memorial Day Ceremony in Inverness. This event, held on the 28th April every year, brings together workers and their representatives from all over the world to remember the dead and fight for the living. The theme this year was Occupational Health and Safety: a fundamental right at work. As we all know too many people are still being injured, harmed or in the most severe cases losing their lives because their health and safety was not prioritised. I am proud to be a member of the Labour movement that has done more than any other party to work towards removing risk from the workplace. This international day is organised by the Trade Union movement and locally the Inverness Trades Council. It remembers all workers who lost their lives to workplace injury or illness and  recommits us all to fighting to keep workers safe.