Tag: Monica Lennon MSP

Lorna Slater adds her name to SELECT’s Wall of Support as backing for recognition for electricians continues to grow

Green Party co-leader also joins 25 other politicians backing motion congratulating trade body on 125 years of fighting for the profession

Scotland’s largest construction trade association, SELECT, continues to draw cross-party support for its activities in its 125th year, with another prominent MSP publicly supporting its campaign for protection of title for electricians.

Scottish Green Party co-leader and former Minister for Green Skills, the Circular Economy and Biodiversity Lorna Slater is the latest politician to add her name to the campaigning trade body’s Wall of Support.

Showing her support with a virtual ‘brick’, the MSP for Lothian Region said: “Currently within Scotland, due to a lack of regulation anyone can claim to be an electrician and carry out electrical work without proper qualification or oversight.

“The installation of electrical work by unqualified or inadequately trained individuals is a major safety concern and risks potential harm to people and businesses.

“I therefore welcome SELECT’s campaign for the regulation of the electrical industry and to make electrician a protected title to aid the protection of the people and the profession.”

Ms Slater – who was born in Canada and worked in Scotland as an engineer in the renewables sector – has also joined 25 MSPs from across the political divide who have backed the recent tabling of a special motion in the Scottish Parliament, congratulating SELECT on representing the electrical industry since 1900.

The motion was lodged by Monica Lennon, Labour MSP for Central Scotland, who also singled out the ongoing contribution of SELECT and its members to renewable technology and apprenticeships and training.

Other MSPs now backing it are the SNP’s Karen Adam, Clare Adamson, Colin Beattie, Stephanie Callaghan, Kenneth Gibson, Bill Kidd, Gordon MacDonald, Fulton MacGregor, Ruth Maguire, Stuart McMillan, Kevin Stewart, Michelle Thomson and David Torrance.

Conservatives Jeremy Balfour, Miles Briggs, Murdo Fraser, Craig Hoy, Edward Mountain, Annie Wells and Brian Whittle have also added their support, along with Labour’s Jackie Baillie, Foysol Choudhury, Alex Rowley, Paul Sweeney, Mercedes Villalba and Independent John Mason.

SELECT Managing Director Alan Wilson said: “As we celebrate our 125th anniversary as the world’s oldest electrical trade body, it is gratifying to see our ongoing work being supported by such a large cross-section of politicians.

“We very much welcome Ms Slater’s expression of solidarity for our campaign for regulation of the electrical industry. It has been a long, hard road but we will continue to focus all our efforts in bringing it to a successful conclusion.

“We are also very grateful to the MSPs who have backed Ms Lennon’s special motion highlighting just how much SELECT has done to promote the cause of public safety and the contribution the electrical sector makes to it.”

As well as a number of MSPs, other bodies that have contributed a brick to the Wall of Support include the Scottish Joint Industry Board, Unite the Union, Electrical Safety First, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the Scottish Association of Landlords, the Specialist Engineering Contractors’ Group and the Energy Saving Trust. 

SELECT has been campaigning for years with other leading industry bodies, such as the Scottish Electrical Charitable Training Trust and the SJIB to make sure that those who work in the industry do so in a safe and competent manner.

Lothian MSPs opens up about father’s alcohol use as part of new campaign 

Miles Briggs MSP has opened up for the first time about his father’s alcohol use, as he backs a campaign to alcohol and drugs.

In a candid and moving letter to his father as part of the See Beyond – See the Lives – Scotland campaign, Miles shares his experiences as the son of a single parent who drank; he lost his mother to breast cancer at an early age.

The Lothians MSP also talks of the loss and pain he feels due to his deceased father missing spending time with his children and grandchildren.

“We all miss you but also know the pain watching you try to deal with and hide your drink problem from family and friends – from bottles hidden in the garden and around the house, the difficulty in holding down a job and for the family the worry and concerns we all felt over what would come next,” writes Miles, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party MSP for Lothian.

He continues: “We probably don’t speak enough about you as a family – that’s partly because it can often return to what was a difficult few final years of your life. Dad, you know you weren’t perfect, but then which one of us is?”

Also backing See Beyond – See the Lives – Scotland is Monica Lennon, Scottish Labour MSP for Central Scotland. A long-time campaigner against the stigma surrounding substance use, Monica lost her father to alcohol in 2015.

Miles’ and Monica’s letters to their fathers are included with 14 others who share letters to their loved ones on the campaign’s website.

The two MSPs will front a Scottish Parliament reception this week in Holyrood where those who helped to create the website campaign will talk about their experiences. They will stress the importance of showing kindness and offering support to everyone affected.

‘Everyone knows someone’ is the message behind See Beyond – See the Lives – Scotland, launched last month by the University of Stirling, Scottish Families Affected by Alcohol and Drugs, Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP), and The Salvation Army.

As well as hard-hitting stories and videos from family members and friends of people who have died, the website includes resources and advice for those harmed by substance use, whether for themselves or a family member or friend.

Since its launch, the campaign has gained national attention and support for its mission to shatter myths surrounding drug and alcohol use and deaths, and to encourage the public to showcompassion for those experiencing problems with substance useand the people left behind when a loved one dies.

Lothian MSP, Miles Briggs, said: “The important message with See Beyond – See the Lives – Scotland is that there is still stigma attached to alcohol and drug use, from how people talk about it to the judgements they bring to it. 

“Each of these letters is a rallying cry to make a change. 

“Everyone knows someone, and we can all help steer each other towards more of an understanding of substance use and its effects on people’s lives.”