Gavin Newlands, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, has written to the new Home Secretary, Amber Rudd MP, to call her to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, known as the Istanbul Convention. The letter, jointly signed with MPs Jess Phillips and Tom Brake, asks the Home Secretary to ratify the convention, which sets out minimum standards for states with regard to prevention, protection, prosecutio

Gavin Newlands, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, has questioned the newly appointed Minister for Welfare Delivery, Caroline Nokes MP, on the effects of the new single-tier state pension on gender equality. Gavin and the Scottish National Party have campaigned relentlessly on the changes to the state pension age together with the Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) campaign group. In Women and Equalities questions last week, Gavin once again highlighted this i

Gavin Newlands, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, has questioned the recently appointed Secretary of State for Women and Equalities, Justine Greening MP, in Parliament on the ratification of the Istanbul convention. Gavin has campaigned on getting this Council of Europe Convention on preventing violence against women and girls ratified by the UK Government. This legislation would require the UK to take measures to prevent violence against women, protect women experiencin

Gavin Newlands, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, took part in a debate in Parliament on Wednesday on the UK Government’s intended cuts to housing benefit for vulnerable people in specialist housing, including people fleeing domestic violence. It was announced in the Autumn Statement 2015 that Housing Benefit claimants living in dwellings rented from a social landlord would face future restrictions on the amount of Housing Benefit they would receive. The government is pl

Gavin Newlands, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, will today vote against the UK renewing its fleet of Trident nuclear weapons. The new Prime Minister Theresa May is asking MPs to vote on whether construction work for replacing the fleet of nuclear submarines at Faslane at a cost of up to £205 billion should go ahead. Trident is opposed by the Scottish Parliament, 57 of Scotland’s 59 MPs, churches, the STUC and civic society, yet the UK Government is intent on basing ano

Gavin Newlands, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, has congratulated Glasgow Airport, who are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, by submitting an Early Day Motion to Parliament celebrating this important milestone. The airport’s anniversary was also marked recently by a visit by the HRH Princess Royal. Gavin Newlands said: “I was glad to take part in the event marking the anniversary, attended by HRH Princess Royal, and want to congratulate Glasgow Airport in P

Gavin Newlands, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, is supporting a campaign run by Scottish libraries and The Reading Agency to encourage children to take part in this year’s Tesco Bank Summer Reading Challenge Scotland. Research shows that reading for pleasure is a more powerful factor in life achievement than socio-economic background, and that children who use libraries are twice as likely to be above average readers. The Challenge builds confidence and independent rea

Gavin Newlands, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, attended a CND Stop Trident Parliamentary Lobby in Westminster on Wednesday along with his SNP colleagues to make clear his objection to renewing the UK’s nuclear weapons. Gavin will attend a CND rally in Paisley on Saturday and will be speaking against the renewal of Trident. MPs will next Monday (18th July) be asked to vote on whether or not construction work should be given the green light for replacing the fleet of nu

SNP MP Gavin Newlands has hosted a cross-party lobby event in Parliament calling for an end to violence against women, and for the UK government to ratify the Istanbul Convention - a European Council convention which legislates for the coordination of policies between government, local authorities and charities working to combat violence against women. The Istanbul Convention Parliamentary lobby was a drop-in event for MPs and peers to find out more about the issue and have t

Gavin Newlands, MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, has congratulated Andy Murray for winning the Wimbledon title. Mr Newlands submitted an Early Day Motion to parliament to pay tribute to Andy Murray for securing his second Wimbledon championship. The EDM - which was supported by Former First Minister Alex Salmond – also paid tribute to Jordanne Whiley, Gordon Reid, Alfie Hewitt and Heather Watson for their historic success at Wimbledon. Mr Newlands serves as the Chair of