WE HAVE an exciting week ahead remembering and marking local history. I am excited to participate in the 474th anniversary of the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh. The battle took place on September 10, 1547, and was the last pitched battle between the Scots and the English before the Union of the Crowns in 1603.

The battle itself was catastrophic for the Scots but it is important to commemorate local history and pay our respects to all who fought in the battle. Many will be aware that there is a stone commemorating the battle at Crookston, off Salters Road at Wallyford, where the ceremony will take place tomorrow (Friday) at 1pm, accompanied with musical tributes. I look forward to attending the event and would encourage people to come along to commemorate a significant part of our history.

It is important that we recognise those before us; without them we would not be here today. Many of our villages are former mining and industrial areas with great legacy and memories still very raw and real. I would like to thank Wallyford Community Council and all who supported them in their efforts in the tidying of the public displays and memorial dedicated to Wallyford’s mining and brick-making history. It is great to see the community coming together, something which we saw our communities take in their stride over the Covid-19 pandemic. I really hope this spirit continues and we continue pulling together.

To turn to more recent current affairs in the constituency, I have now met with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Humza Yousaf, regarding Riverside Medical Practice.

I felt the Cabinet Secretary listened to our concerns and did not underestimate the severity of the situation patients currently face. I must stress no solution will happen overnight but there was an agreement that a solution must be found. I will continue to work with all relevant stakeholders and make representations for the patients. I want to reiterate and provide reassurance that this issue remains my priority for the constituency.