ABOVE all, I am a local. I’ve lived in East Lothian for 20 years and am deeply rooted here.

I know the local issues: managing growth in our communities, the overriding of the local planning process, pressure on services and Edinburgh centralisation, and town centre and local transport challenges.

That said, make no mistake, this election is about Brexit. The shape of the next Westminster Parliament will have a big impact on our and our children’s lives.

Why vote Scottish Liberal Democrat here? Simply put, we are the only UK party determined to keep the UK in Europe and Scotland in the UK.

Why stop Brexit and stay in Europe? We need the European nurses, doctors and workers who help to keep our NHS running. We benefit from easy access to two-way trade across Europe. We gain by co-operating closely with Europe on policing, security, research and education. We hope that future generations too will have the opportunity to work and travel freely across Europe. We value and wish to preserve 74 years of peace among the major European nations since 1945.

And why should Scotland stay in the UK? Now is not the time to cut close ties with neighbours that we have built up over decades and centuries. Our political system is already under strain. A Scottish independence referendum will add division to division, create further uncertainty and chaos, as well as coming at an economic cost. It is not sensible to come out of one period of austerity and move straight into another one.

Liberal Democrats offer a clear set of other policies: significant investment in services and infrastructure; a commitment to ensuring overall national debt continues to decline as a share of national income; a determination that the UK leads the world in tackling the climate emergency; and a transformation of mental health services by treating mental health with the same urgency as physical health.

We are also committed to mending our broken political system. The two-party first-past-the-post system has failed. Extreme elements dominate parties when most sensible people, and even many politicians, agree on many issues. The solution is proportional representation at Westminster. This will encourage consensus and cross-party agreement on long-term policies.

Power needs to be pushed out from the centre, whether it’s from Westminster or Holyrood. Liberal Democrats offer East Lothian voters the opportunity to build a brighter future.