Earlier this month I had the honour of giving a keynote speech at Active Communities 100 Voices of Renfrewshire’s Inspiring Women Event in Johnstone Town Hall. This event was planned as part of the celebrations of 100 years of women’s suffrage.

Well done to the Active Communities team for putting on such an inspirational event and highlighting all the determined and influential women we have in Renfrewshire. I was joined by a fantastic line up of women in Renfrewshire including Provost Lorraine Cameron, Corinne Hutton and Jean Cameron. We also had the pleasure of hearing Brogan Kennedy, an S5 pupil from St Benedict’s High School, as she recited her essay on gendered stereotypes as well as a fantastic performance from Castlehead High School and 3Theatre.

Last week we also saw another addition to Renfrewshire’s list of inspirational women highlighted just across from my constituency office in Wellmeadow Street in Paisley. A statue of May Donoghue, the claimant in the world renowned ‘Snail in the Bottle Case’, has been unveiled.

The statue, created by artist Mandy McIntosh, is just yards from the original café where May had gone to meet a friend in 1928. May fell ill after the ginger beer that was bought for her by her friend was found to contain a dead snail. May successfully sued the ginger beer manufacturer Stevenson’s. This case is so significant because it laid down the foundation for the modern law of negligence.

May is a fantastic example of a determined woman that would not take no for an answer and through that determination she was successful in what she set out to achieve. A significant part of Renfrewshire’s history has been captured in this new addition. I would urge you to have a look for yourself.

As the SNP’s spokesperson for Women, Equalities & Pensions at Westminster, I have enjoyed getting involved in the celebrations of women’s rights that have been taking place throughout 2018. As we make moves in the right direction in Scotland with recent announcements such as free sanitary products for all of our students, we have a polarising effect when it comes to policies still reserved to the UK Parliament. Issues such as the WASPI campaign that has seen women born in the 1950s being robbed of their pension. I have lost count of the amount of times we have debated this issue in Westminster, with no resolution found for these women.

Another example is the plight of the women impacted by transvaginal mesh implants. This is a sensitive issue and I was impressed by the determination of these women following what is a personal medical procedure. I was thankful to see last week the Scottish Government have now halted the use of transvaginal mesh. Unfortunately the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) are the ruling body on regulating the use of mesh implants and have the power to fully ban this. I will continue to support the mesh survivors as we attempt to make sure these women get justice.