Campaigning for positive change – your SNP MPs at Westminster (By Grant Costello)

In 2015 we pledged that our MPs would make Scotland’s voice stronger at Westminster and to use our influence to help deliver positive change for the benefit of people in Scotland, and across the UK.

Working with campaigners and other parties, that is exactly what SNP MPs have been doing since the election.

Here are just some examples, amongst many, of SNP MPs campaigning for positive change at Westminster.

Fighting for a fairer immigration policy

Gregg Brain speaks at #SNP16 from theSNP on Vimeo.

SNP MPs, Ian Blackford MP and Alex Salmond MP, working alongside Kate Forbes MSP, have successfully lobbied on behalf of the Brain family for their right to live in Scotland.

Gregg and Kathryn Brain and their son Lachlan moved to the Highlands in 2011 from Australia on a student visa. They had intended to move to the post-study work visa after Kathryn graduated but the UK government scrapped the policy over the objections of the Scottish Government.

SNP MPs, MSPs and the SNP Scottish Government have consistently argued for the reintroduction of the post-study work visa by the UK government, to ensure we can attract and retain the skills and talent Scotland needs.

The Brain family’s situation was raised in the House of Commons by SNP MPs, including by Angus Robertson at PMQs. Ian Blackford worked to secure multiple extensions to the Brain’s visa, despite the constant threat of deportation by the Home Office, until they were able to secure employment and, finally, receive leave to remain in the UK.

Calling for an end to the Tories draconian Rape Clause

Alison Thewliss MP has campaigned against Tory plans to make some women prove they have been raped in order to claim Child Tax Credits, forcing the UK Government to back down and hold public consultation on the issue.

The Tories plan to restrict the child element of tax credits and Universal Credit to families’ first two children. The rape clause would mean that women who have a third child as a result of rape would have to prove that this was the case in order to receive Tax Credits. SNP MPs will continue to fight against these barbaric proposals to ensure they never become law.

Read more on the campaign here.

http://www.snp.org/scrap_the_rape_clause_alison_thewliss

Standing against pension injustice

Mhairi Black MP has been working with the women of the WASPI campaign and led calls at Westminster for women born in the 1950s to receive the pensions they are rightfully due.

Changes made in the 1995 Pensions Act, and accelerated by the Coalition Government in the 2011 Act, will mean that 2.6 million women born in the 1950s will receive their pension years later than originally promised.

The SNP has commissioned research showing that for the cost of £8 billion the UK Government can reverse the 2011 changes and give WASPI women more time to prepare – significantly less than the £30 billion touted by the UK Government.

Read more on our support for the WASPI campaign here.
http://www.snp.org/tories_must_take_responsibility_for_injustice_of_waspi

Pressing the Tory government to accept more unaccompanied child refugees

Angus – Child Refugees from theSNP on Vimeo.

SNP Leader at Westminster Angus Robertson MP and Joanna Cherry QC MP continue to press the UK government to accept a greater share of the unaccompanied child refugees in Europe.

Following questions at PMQs and an opposition day debate on the issue, the UK Government eventually caved in and agreed to accept 3,000 more child refugees. While this was a step forward it is not enough. Angus Robertson and the SNP will continue to press the UK Government to step up to its moral obligation.

Defeating Tory plans to cut Tax Credits for the poorest in society

Eilidh Whiteford MP was at the forefront of opposing Tax Credit cuts proposed by George Osborne in 2015; something that would have cost families £1,000 per year on average.

Working on a cross party basis, we successfully forced the UK Government to abandon its regressive cuts to Tax Credits.

Securing the best deal for Scotland on Heathrow expansion

Drew Hendry MP, working with the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work, Keith Brown, has campaigned tirelessly since being elected to secure the best deal for Scotland on airport expansion.

The Heathrow expansion plans will create up to 16,000 jobs across Scotland, see over £200 million in construction-related spend here in Scotland, and an incentive to introduce new services between Heathrow and Scottish airports.

Read more about Scotland’s deal here. http://news.scotland.gov.uk/news/heathrow-expansion

ARTICLE SOURCE: http://www.snp.org/campaigning_for_positive_change_at_westminster