Along with Councillor Colin McCulloch I am keeping food insecurity at the top of the agenda by asking Renfrewshire Council to appoint a Food Champion.

I am proud to be standing as one of two Scottish Labour and Co-operative candidates alongside Connor Cunningham in Houston, Crosslee and Linwood in the council elections.

The cost of living crisis is starting to bite in Renfrewshire, and for many people it’s only going to get worse when energy prices rise again later in the year. Right across Renfrewshire and the whole country, we know that many local people are struggling with the choice to eat or heat. We’ve asked the council to prioritise food justice as part of its cost of living crisis response. We support the appointment of a Food Champion in local government, an initiative led by the Co-operative Party to develop a food partnership to help deliver food justice.

From my campaign fighting for universal, free school dinners for school children of all ages, to community foodbanks and co-operative allotments, the last year has focused minds on the issue of food justice. Anas Sarwar, Leader of the Scottish Labour Party and a Labour and Co-operative MSP, met with Connor Cunningham and myself (picture above) to talk to constituents on the doorsteps about their concerns. An issue that came up was the worry about how people would be able to pay their rising bills and still afford to eat healthily. Many local people support the Renfrewshire Labour manifesto pledges to freeze all council charges for two years, keep council tax low and to fight hard against SNP cuts. In the run up to local government elections, the message on the doorsteps is local people want councillors to focus on their real-life concerns and food insecurity is a top priority for many.