NEW SNP MP Neil Gray, who overturned a majority of more than 12,000 in a former Labour stronghold, insisted that witnessing his constituents in tears in utter desperation with no food or a penny in their pockets made him even more determined to battle against crippling Tory welfare cuts.
The 29-year-old MP for Airdrie and Shotts said he and his SNP colleagues at Westminster will fight “tooth and nail” against the cuts and plans to scrap the Human Rights Act.
As he headed for the Commons for a series of inductions yesterday, Gray recalled speaking to local people before he was elected.
“I had people sitting across the table from me in surgeries in tears in utter desperation with not an ounce of food on the table, not a penny in their wallet because of idealogical political decisions taken by the Tories that are absolutely hammering ordinary people’s lives, people who have fallen on hard times and need the support of the state,” he said.
“These are honest people who just need a bit of a helping hand. These cuts don’t need to be made, that was made clear during the election, the Tories just want to make them.
“They are absolutely ruthless. It is disgusting especially as I’m walking up through the streets of London and I see the money that’s flowing through this place; there is clearly a need to redistribute some of the wealth in certain parts of the country.
“I will fight it 100 per cent and so will my colleagues.
“The other thing I take issue with is the potential scrapping of the Human Rights Act. That would be an absolute travesty and I’m delighted that Alex Neil and Nicola Sturgeon have announced they will not allow that to happen, so we need to fight tooth and nail against this as well.”
Born and brought up in the Orkney Isles, Gray moved to the central belt when attending Stirling University from 2004, where he gained a first class degree in politics and journalism.
He worked as journalist for the BBC and local newspaper titles before moving to the SNP’s press and research office in Holyrood.
Father of nine-month-old Isla and husband of Karlie, 28, Gray was also employed by Neil in his constituency office in August 2008, becoming his office manager in 2011.
He was a keen athlete, representing Scotland at the 400m, until a serious knee injury ended his career but he hasn’t given up completely as he still runs long distance events including the most recent ultra marathon in 2013.
Since he defeated Labour opponent Pamela Nash last week, Gray said it has been “busy, hectic, overwhelming, unbelievable and fantastic”.
Gray put his election win down to the hard work of his campaign team and said his inspiration came from MSP Neil, the Social Justice Secretary and former Health Minister.
He said: “If I can be half the man that Alex is then I’ll be doing well in life. If I can be half the politician that he is then I will be representing the community well.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here