“ILLEGAL, indefensible, inhumane”: SNP party president Mike Russell has strongly condemned the catastrophe unfolding in Ukraine.

Stunned by a European war, Scotland is showing outstanding generosity in charity donations and other help when unprecedented financial pressures already exist at home.

I am appalled that the UK Government has been incredibly slow, cruel and bureaucratic in its response in accepting desperate Ukrainians to the UK, many of whom have family here.

The First Ministers of Scotland and Wales are proposing both nations become refugee ‘super sponsors’. The EU has been much more generous, welcoming, co-ordinated and slicker in its response. The UK Government Brexit mentality remains strong.

As a refugee ‘super sponsor’, Scotland can be open, fair, outward-looking and welcoming towards those fleeing war and ensure further that all living in East Lothian, no matter where they were born, can enjoy safe, warm, sustainable homes.

Housing is a major issue for May’s council elections and last week I answered penetrating questions from North Berwick Environment and Heritage Trust members. Concerns centred on both sustaining the environment and also guaranteeing affordable housing.

This ‘balancing act’ requires East Lothian Council not only to protect our beautiful county as Scotland’s most desirable place to live, but also to ensure that those born and raised here enjoy fulfilling individual or family lives in affordable properties to rent or buy.

Recent decades have derailed that ‘balancing act’. Young people and first-time buyers; families wanting to give their children a better life in the country; traders dependent on year-round vibrant and bustling high streets are all being squeezed out.

The 19th-century railway attracted new seaside homes which transformed East Lothian, making North Berwick a fashionable ‘Biarritz of the North’. The railway spread prosperity to Dunbar, Dirleton, Gullane and East Linton, with villages now benefiting from tourist income.

Potential new stations are being discussed, including in Haddington and Blindwells. However, very high short-term holiday-let rentals price out locals. Second homes, empty for months, drain income from high streets and corner shops. Mushrooming Airbnbs and huge concentrations of second homes and rentals destabilise coastal communities, turning neighbourhoods into ‘holiday parks’.

I’ll be sharing next week the steps under way to start resetting the housing balance in East Lothian.