Scottish Labour conference at Glasgow

Quick update on getting back from the Scottish Labour conference in Glasgow. I was the first delegate to speak from the floor, which was exciting and daunting in equal measure!

Anyway, I used my speech to call for sustained infrastructure investment in the North East of Scotland. The current SNP government have cut £1.2 billion of infrastructure projects across Scotland, and over 25,000 construction jobs have been lost across the country as a result.

A similar slashing of investment happened in the oil and gas industry in the 1990s. Now, we still have a big skills shortage are heavily dependent on overseas engineers. If we don’t maintain public sector investment, I’m worried the same thing will happen to the North East’s construction industry and we’ll only end up importing those skills again a decade down the line.

From the feedback we're getting on the doorstep, it's increasingly clear that the Liberal Democrats are in big trouble and the Aberdeen South and North Kincardine seat has become a two horse race between Labour and the SNP. But just in case folk are still thinking of voting Lib Dem, in terms of infrastructure let’s not forget that is was the current Lib Dem leader, Tavish Scott, who as transport minister bungled the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route consultation process and allowed protesters to hold the project up in the courts. They have an awful delivery record in Aberdeen city and the shire and we can’t let them make the same mistakes in the future.