Sandra Osborne

Labour Party | Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock

Message for Christmas and New Year

Many of you will find it hard to look back on this past year - you may have lost a loved one, gone through a family crisis or suffered ill health. On the other hand, it will also bring back memories of joy and happiness. It's been that kind of year for me as your MP too.

I have felt a great weight of responsibility as I had to wrestle with issues like going to war with Iraq; how we best deal with the issue of asylum seekers; the scourge of Aids sweeping the African continent, and at home justice for the ex employees of UEF robbed of their works pensions.

In the course of the year I spent 20 days on service with the Royal Marines as part of a Parliamentary Scheme to help MPs better understand the armed forces over which they have control. I have seen at first hand how tough their job is and talked at length to them about issues like Iraq where many of them have served. I have also visited Malawi to see the work being done there on women's reproductive health in the face of the Aids epidemic.

The better memories this year include visiting pensioners throughout the constituency to talk to them about the new Pension Credit scheme. I also welcome all the representation I get from individual constituents and groups on all sorts of things regardless of whether I agree with their point of view or not.

Now it's time for a break and a rest so I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.