Martin Whitfield MSP has lodged a motion at Holyrood highlighting the success of Friends of Ormiston Park in being presented with a Green Flag Community Award. The award follows years of dedicated work by the volunteers who make up the group, which has included securing significant funding for a new children’s play park and the [...]

The new multi-million-pound visitor centre at Glenkinchie distillery has been praised by South Scotland MSP Martin Whitfield. Mr Whitfield paid his first visit to the site since the new experience was formally opened in October last year. The enhanced visitor centre builds on Glenkinchie’s heritage to tell people the story of the Lowland Home of [...]

Responding to the latest cervical cancer screening statistics, which show the number of smear tests in Scotland fell by 45% in a year, from 318,727 in 2019-20 to 174,299 in 2020-21, Martin Whitfield MSP has called for urgent action to improve testing uptake. Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust has said that the statistics must serve as [...]

Martin Whitfield MSP has called on the Tory UK Government to reverse their “catastrophic” cut to Universal Credit. New figures from Scottish Labour have revealed the devastating impact the cut will have in East Lothian where up to one in four households will be affected. This means more than 10,000 households locally will lose up [...]

Martin Whitfield MSP has lodged a motion in the Scottish Parliament highlighting a new report on the urgent need for action to improve MS and neurology services in Scotland. Published by the MS Society Scotland, “Neurology Now”, explains how the pressure on neurology services, already significant pre-pandemic, has been exacerbated over the last year and [...]

Martin Whitfield MSP has officially been accredited as a Living Wage Employer, a commitment that ensures his staff will receive a minimum hourly wage of £9.50. This UK rate, and the London rate (£10.85), are significantly higher than the government minimum for over 23s, which currently stands at £8.91 per hour. In Scotland, more than [...]

Martin Whitfield MSP has called on the Scottish Government to take up Scottish Labour's plans to expand the Winter Fuel Payment, after new figures revealed it could help some 9,778 people in East Lothian, and tens of thousands more across South Scotland.. Last week Scottish Labour called on the government to introduce a £70 winter [...]

Martin Whitfield MSP welcomed his local hero Ruth Davie to Holyrood today for the official opening ceremony of the sixth session of the Scottish Parliament. Ruth, who was joined by her mother Jessie for the event, was chosen because of her work supporting local people through the Fundamental Foods project at the Pennypit Community Development [...]

Martin Whitfield MSP has committed to supporting the Fair Trade Pledge for MSPs to promote the benefits of fair trade during the current parliamentary session. Fair Trade has always been an important part of challenging global inequality and poverty. COVID-19 has exacerbated these inequalities, making Fair Trade more essential than ever before. The Fair Trade [...]

Commenting on the announcement by Health and Social Care Partnerships across the Lothians about potential cuts to home care packages in the coming weeks, Martin Whitfield MSP said: “The fact that all of the Lothian’s health and social care partnerships have had to make this joint announcement underlines the unprecedented nature of the challenges facing [...]