Today, Parliament hosted a debate discussing the impact Brexit has had on the rural economy. However, I took the opportunity to discuss a major obstacle faced by Scotland's rural economy- the SNP government.
On far too many occasions, we have witnessed the SNP play the blame game, where they attribute issues that impact local people on Westminster and other stakeholders, instead of taking responsibility for their own mismanagement.
During my speech, I addressed these issues, including funding cuts to housing, lack of assistance by the government to Scottish farmers and the urgent shortage of healthcare professionals, such as GP's and dentists. With the SNP government are prioritising the central belt and leaving those in rural communities behind, it is little wonder we are facing a rural depopulation crisis.
The Conservative Party will always champion the interests of rural communities. Our rural manifesto pledges to improve 5G rollout, increase UK wide farming budget and secure our ferry routes, issues that the SNP government have failed to address.