Monday January 5th 2026
Christine Grahame MSP
Christine Grahame MSP writes her monthly column for Midlothian View
Well, the tree is down, decorations packed away and cards put into recycling. The house looks very bare after the fairy lights which brightened up some pretty glum weather. Parly went back on the 5th as we catch up on cases gathered over recess though as usual it is very quiet then.
Soon we will be deep in the Scottish Budget and being a minority government, the SNP relies on support from other parties. That of course comes at a price and there will be negotiations on what can be acceptable to parties.
We can rule out Labour and the Tories who will not negotiate at least realistically, if at all. They are very good at saying what they want but not how they would pay for it. Well Santa’s back at the North Pole so he’s not available for their wish lists.
Whatever comes out of the budget, public services will remain hit hard by the increased Employers National Insurance, energy and food inflation. Think of the dent these make on the bills for our NHS and our education system for starters.
Meantime I have been a hermit these last few days as I caught a winter bug which left me wheezing and feeling nauseous.
The upside is, that loss of appetite has ridden me of excess festive pounds. But I am lucky in that today as I type, the temperature is minus three so I am able to work at my home office and I can keep the radiators on at full blast.
There are so many who can’t do that, who can’t even keep a fire on. What you must do if that is the case is check out what help there may be through the government, it’s at mygov.Scot. If you are not on the internet, contact my office, the CAB, the Local Authority, the local church, the local Foodbank. If you have family or friends, neighbours to help you, do ask them.
What you must not do is sit and freeze. If you are unable to go out shopping, then again if you are not on-line then do ask for help. My neighbour has kindly offered to bring me milk and bread which has run low and I will take her up on that.
So, as we enter a very cold January where the bright sunshine is lovely to see after weeks of drab dank weather, please check up on neighbours, especially the older neighbours to see they are OK. They may not need or indeed want your help, but it is better to check than not at all.
Meantime, I shall have to continue to work at home for a few days to see if this virus lifts and I certainly don’t want to spread it around. Despite all that, I do wish you a Happy New Year.
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