LIKE many, I thought the days of invasion by dictatorships on European soil were the stuff of history books rather than news bulletins.

The scenes which we have been seeing from Ukraine are absolutely horrifying.

I offer my full and unreserved support to the people of Ukraine, and my thanks to the many East Lothian residents who have shown their solidarity. I welcome Ukrainians to East Lothian and hope the UK Government helps speed their passage to refuge.

The war in Ukraine has sounded alarm bells which should have been ringing at Holyrood far earlier than they have been.

History tells us oppressive regimes use energy supplies as pawns in a global security game. That is why it is more important than ever to build resilience into our own domestic energy supplies.

As oil and gas prices soared, the First Minister stepped up her opposition to our present energy base. The Scottish Government is seeking to close down Scotland’s oil and gas industry.

While energy policy is reserved to Westminster, the SNP have said they will use their control of the planning system to block any future civilian nuclear energy in Scotland. So not only is our oil and gas sector at risk, the clean, safe and secure zero-carbon electricity delivered by civilian nuclear energy facilities such as Torness are also being sacrificed. This will force Scotland to rely on despots like Putin for oil and gas supply.

And there are defence issues we must focus on too. Given the chance, the SNP would scrap our nuclear deterrent, while their coalition partners in the Scottish Greens have confirmed they are still opposed to NATO.

I will always support our membership of NATO, our energy security, defence and the many jobs supported by the nuclear industry in East Lothian and throughout the south of Scotland.