Report to the People
8th October 2007

TXT THE CTTEE

Politicians are like light switches, not much use if you can’t reach them.

Since I was elected, therefore, I have tried to make myself as an MSP, together with the political process as a whole, as accessible as possible.  Politics is not the preserve of the chattering classes or special interest groups and, thanks to modern technology, it’s now easier than ever to have your say.

Last week, for example, the Local Government Committee, of which I am Convener, was taking evidence on the help available for people who struggle to pay their gas and electricity bills.  Many different people from across Scotland have firsthand knowledge of this problem and I felt it was important that the Committee benefited from their experience.

So, in what was a Scottish Parliament first, we launched a scheme whereby you could pick up your mobile and text in the questions you wanted us put to the Committee witnesses.

The end result of the Committee’s work will be a submission to the government shaped by members of the public.  But this won’t be the end for mobile democracy.

In fact, from today, you can take part in a larger-scale pilot project which lets you contact your MSP by text, put questions to the public information team, find out about visiting Holyrood, order free leaflets and more.

Just start your question with SP and text it to 80011 (charged at your standard network rate), making sure you include your name and where you are from.

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