PARLIAMENTARY business will resume this week after the winter recess.
Although the Covid-19 situation remains a cause of great concern, we know that vaccination still puts us in the best place to fight the virus and protect us.
The Scottish Government has increased capacity for vaccinations and I would encourage everyone to get their first, second and third dose – this includes 12-15-year-olds who can now receive their second dose 12 weeks after their first.
I would like to thank everyone for their efforts to get Boosted by the Bells in December and I hope we can keep this momentum going.
I was disappointed to see that Newhailes House has again been targeted by vandals on two separate occasions, destroying some original historic glass in the process.
READ MORE: Vandals strike at historic estate leaving 25 panes of glass shattered
The loss to the site is devastating and I would encourage anyone with information to contact Police Scotland as soon as possible.
Back in the last Parliamentary session, I gave a speech to the Scottish Parliament in 2020 on the Protection of Workers Bill which was enforced in August last year.
Since the first three months of the implementation of the Act, the Scottish Business Resilience sector reported 285 incidents of abuse against retail workers to Police Scotland.
I supported the main principles of this Act and saw a real need to address the abuse retail workers face on a daily basis just for doing their job.
Over the pandemic, retail workers were at the frontline and kept our country going to ensure we could still access the essentials during lockdown. They all worked very hard, and still do, to ensure customers are safe.
The reported incidents are just a fraction of the real incidents that have taken place since the implementation of the Protection of Workers Act.
I hope now that the Act is in place, retail workers feel they can report any incidents to Police Scotland and that they will be taken seriously.
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