Recently I have been working to help those who have been mis-sold solar panels by the disgraced UK government Green Deal backed supplier, HELMS, who recently went into liquidation.

More households in Paisley and Renfrewshire North have been affected by this than any other constituency in Scotland. Many have been hit with higher energy costs after being promised huge savings on their bill.

Others have found themselves saddled with debt that is linked to their property, making it difficult to sell.

I wrote to the UK secretary of state for business, energy, and industrial strategy, Greg Clark, to raise my concerns that the accreditation process was not robust enough and asked for an account of why it was so poor. I also raised the clear issues of impartiality due to the fact that the Green Deal Finance Company is now investigating complaints that is now responsible for settling. This is just some of the wide range of issues caused by the shambolic handling of this ongoing problem.

When people see a UK Government logo on a document they do not expect to get scammed. That’s why Greg Clark and his department need to do more to resolve people’s cases.

People need help, so I have been speaking with my constituents and offering advice and information on their cases. 

If you are one of those who have been affected by this, you may wish to come to my public meeting tomorrow at Linwood Primary School, from 7pm to 9pm.

We will be joined the Green Deal Finance Company, Citizen’s Advice Bureau, Local Energy Advice Programme, and Trading Standards Scotland who you will be able to put your questions to and may be able to give advice on where you can go from here.

Another topic I would like to discuss is Labour, a party which clearly can’t be trusted to represent Scotland at the moment. It has once again shown that it is are totally unfit to represent the Scottish people. 

Jeremy Corbyn and the leader of Scottish Labour, Richard Leonard, stated at the UK Labour Conference that they would not allow Scotland to have a say on independence - despite the Scottish Parliament voting to hold a referendum. Regardless of your thoughts on Scottish independence, we can all agree the only people who should decide on the issue is the Scottish people. It isn’t up to Westminster to decide if or when we get to vote.

What’s more, the chair of Labour’s Conference, Andy Kerr, made an offensive sectarian remark in front of thousands of people and all of the UK’s press and media, while inviting a speaker on stage. This kind of behaviour should be beneath any political party whomever they represent and Mr Kerr should resign his position immediately. Sectarianism and discrimination of any kind should be consigned to history.

In other matters, last week I visited Catalonia with an All Party Parliamentary Group to speak with those involved in the ongoing political crisis, including many from civil society outside of politics. I also met with the president of the Catalan Government, Quim Torra, to discuss the events of last October when hundreds were attacked by Spanish security forces just for trying to vote, and to see how MPs of all parties could contribute to the establishment of a proper process.