I contacted my local MP David Linden a number of weeks ago to chat about the impact of the pandemic on his parliamentary work and the effects in the local community. I've got to admit I was surprised at how quickly David got back to me and how open our chat was about local life and the many good deeds and amazing initiatives that go unnoticed by many in the city.
An e-mail, phone call and a (socially distant) face to face chat only confirmed to me the passion David has for the local community and his focus on delivering a better future for his constituents.
Hope you enjoy my Q&A with David Linden MP for Glasgow East
Q. know you're a football fan, so my first question has to be around fans in stadiums - how can this be progressed to help big & small clubs to welcome fans back & provide much needed input into the local economy?
A. Good question! For my sins, I’ve been an Airdrieonians fan for the last 19 years and it feels totally alien not to be in my usual season ticket seat in the Jack Dalziel stand these days.
The reality is, the spread of the virus is still rising just now – so now would not be the time to return fans to stadiums en masse.
We have, however, seen areas where the prevalence rate is lower able to open smaller stadiums, e.g. Elgin City FC in Moray, and I think we are all hoping that we can end up in a similar situation at some point but realistically, I’m not expecting to be back at football any time soon.
Q. How have you been keeping yourself busy away from Parliament?
A. Work! The challenges Glasgow East faces are well known and documented, e.g. an unemployment rate that runs at roughly double that of the UK national average – even at the best of times/pre-pandemic. Unfortunately, at its peak around 12,000 folk locally were furloughed and that has led to a number of job losses already. So even when I’m not in Parliament, I’m almost certainly only the phone speaking to a local business and trying to protect jobs.
I’ve tried to carve out a bit of time on Sundays to go walking with my best mate, Dougie. He’s a fellow long-suffering Airdrie fan so what in effect is meant to be a relaxing walk tends to end up with us getting worked up about the woes of Airdrie’s performance the previous day!
Q. What has been your biggest challenge?
A. Like a lot of people, I found the initial and most stringent part of lockdown really tough going in terms of my mental health. I was used to travelling a lot for work and being stuck in the house – albeit working from home – 23 hours a day was quite a challenge.
Q. Where have you found strength at difficult times?
A. My faith has helped me through a lot, no doubt about that. Hope is one of the central parts of the Christian faith, so I’ve been clinging to that a lot… and praying for a vaccine!
Q. What have you learned about yourself / local community?
A. I always knew the people of Glasgow East were pretty generous and kind hearted but the community response has been absolutely phenomenal.
Literally at one point of the early days of lockdown, there was actually some frustrating levels of duplication in terms of providing food parcels being delivered to people but that’s probably a measure of how well-meaning folk are. It’s true: East End = Best End.
Q. Did you pick up any new skills?
A. I wouldn’t say operating IT was always my strong point but I’ve become a little more confident at using technology during lockdown, though I won’t be sad to see the back of Zoom! I much prefer meeting people face-to-face…
Q. What are you looking forward to most when it's safe to do so?
A. Giving my Mum a hug. It’s simple things like that I’ve missed and our family has been through a pretty tough time so I’m definitely looking forward binning the social distancing when it’s safe to do so!
Q. What are your political hopes when the country begins to move out of restrictions & faces a new norm/ world?
A. At the moment, if I’m being honest, I just want to get to the other side when folk aren’t being diagnosed or dying from this awful virus. Politically, there are big questions to be asked about where we go next but I think most politicians – on a cross party basis – are genuinely just trying to get us through this.
Q. hopefully you are allowed to give an honest opinion on this one..............Recent polls have support for Scottish independence at an all-time high, do you think this is in light of the leadership shown by our first minister Nicola Sturgeon or the perceived lack of governance from Downing street?
A. I’ve been asked this question before but I don’t think it’s just the First Minister’s handling of the pandemic which has shown a difference with Downing Street (though I think Nicola has probably communicated better than Boris which has been a big factor in winning public trust). A lot of this, I think, goes back to Brexit and even beyond – people had a glimpse in 2014 of what independence might be like. I understand folk were a bit cautious and voted No but I think the glimpse they’ve had into Brexit Britain since 2014 has probably led to many people changing their mind.
And when the facts change, people should have the right to change their mind!
In my view, Scottish independence is now when – not if.
