Katy is fighting for jobs and investment for the West of Scotland, fair pay and pensions, properly funded public services, a publicly owned National Care Service with parity with the NHS, publicly owned and fully accountable transport networks, and a just transition to a net-zero Scotland that prioritises job creation and well-paid employment and a move towards a greener economy.

Katy has a track record of campaigning for well-funded public services in the public sector from her involvement in anti-cuts campaigns in the 1990s, campaigning against privatisation as a trade unionist and voting and speaking out against austerity and privatisation in the Westminster Parliament.

The pandemic was not a “great leveller” but has increased the gap between rich and poor. The last few years have highlighted the value of public sector workers to our society and Katy believes in fair, inflation-proof pay rises for workers. Working class communities should not be paying the price for the soaring wealth of billionaires.

In the Scottish Parliament she will also fight for:

  • Proper funding for councils with a transfer of powers to local government
  • The insourcing of services such as health and social care
  • More resources for schools and bold action to address the attainment gap
  • Investment in housing and empowering government to intervene in the economy
  • To bring all of Scotland’s railways back into public ownership and stand against further cuts in services
  • A publicly owned bus network that provides key services to all community
  • Climate leadership and a halt to all new oil and gas extraction

Katy will work to extend democracy at every level, for the decisions which affect people in Scotland and to empower working class communities. She believes we need to recognise who owns the land and wealth and that urgent land reform is essential, and if necessary, bringing land into public ownership so that economic decisions can be taken to develop an economic strategy built on full employment, economic growth and investment-led strategies.

She believes that the Scottish Parliament does have the powers to regenerate our communities if courageous and imaginative political decisions are made. She will fight for any additional powers needed to ensure that investment is made to rebuild. The West of Scotland has been at the sharp end of generations of deindustrialisation. It’s time for a green industrial revolution to bring the jobs of the future and to tackle poverty and deprivation.

Katy believes in a new constitutional settlement based on a genuine equal partnership of the nations of the UK, recognising the Scottish people’s right to self-determination.

Katy is Convenor of the Scottish Parliament Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) Cross Party Group. She is also a member of the Scottish Parliament Criminal Justice Committee and she is the Scottish Labour Shadow Minister for Community Safety.

Katy is passionate about improving the criminal justice system in Scotland. Her committee and front-bench work has a wide-reaching remit, including scrutiny of and actions on: Scotland’s drug deaths, access to justice (including women’s experiences of the justice system), prisoner and prison safety, and policing.

Katy’s is also working to improve public transparency and deliver openness in Scotland’s public services through her upcoming Freedom of Information Bill. Since the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act was passed 20 years ago, there has been a significant shift in the way many of our public services are delivered. Katy’s proposals for a new bill would extend Freedom of Information coverage to all bodies delivering public services, services of a public nature and publicly funded. This would include, for example, private health and social care providers. The proposals also aim to strengthen and enforce the public’s right to access to information and improve enforcement and good practice of current Freedom of Information obligations. You can find more information on the Bill here and how to respond to the consultation before the 14 March deadline.