AMONG the most valuable rights of living in Scotland and the UK are the freedoms we enjoy. We take freedom of speech, freedom of thought and freedom of privacy for granted.
AS A COUNCILLOR, the weather often dictates what issues we are dealing with on behalf of our constituents. When it is sunny, there can be issues at busy coastal locations with litter and parking; when it snows, we are dealing with the efforts to clear streets; and when it is exceptionally windy like it was last week, our inboxes are full of messages about the council’s recycling boxes.
EVERY year, East Lothian Council has to grapple with council budgeting and spending decisions.
ONCE again, it is time for the annual budget discussions to start, as the council begins the process of making decisions for the next three years about where resources should be used, what the priorities are and where any money should be spent. For me, it brings a great sense of déjà vu, as we face many of the same challenges that we have faced at this time of year since I was first elected in May 2017.
OFTEN at the council, we hear from officers about how East Lothian is a quick-growing county, a growth area in Scotland and anyone that has witnessed the rapid rate houses are going up in Haddington, Musselburgh, Longniddry or a host of other places in the county would find that hard to disagree with.
I’M SURE that everyone was as delighted as I was to see on Tuesday the pictures of the first people in the world being vaccinated against the coronavirus.
THERE has been a lot of talk about “power grabs” recently – generally resulting in more heat than light in the hot-house political atmosphere we live in.
IN RECENT weeks, you may have read about the spate of anti-social behaviour in my ward (Preston Seton Gosford) or if you live in my ward, you probably have witnessed it.
AS A SOCIETY, we have a natural instinct to protect children from danger. This comes in many forms. We may be more careful driving down a street, we create safe places for them to play and we make allowances for children we would not for adults as we allow them to grow and learn.
THE treatment of business as a burden and as an afterthought in policy-making in Scotland is not a new phenomenon under the SNP Government caused by coronavirus. It is a basic way of acting and behaving that well precedes that and it is something that must change.
