A Very Merry Christmas One And All

Christmas is a magical time and I can think of nowhere better to celebrate it than right here in East Renfrewshire.



I have hugely fond memories over my years at Carolside Primary, at Williamwood High, with the 128 Boys Brigade, at Giffnock Tennis Club and with family and friends across the district.

Today my wife, Elaine, and I celebrate our first Christmas as parents. Myles is too young to really understand what is happening, although he seemed very excited to meet Santa for the first time earlier this week. While family and friends will undoubtedly spoil him rotten I want more than that for Myles. I am determined to ensure 2010 becomes the year that East Renfrewshire plays its part in sorting out the economic disaster we face as a result of Labour's recession.

Unless we act now our children and grandchildren will be the ones left to pay for the mistakes of today. Every child now owes £23,000 thanks to Labour's debt crisis, and that simply isn't fair on future generations or in the best interests of our country. We owe it to each other to choose a path of stability and responsibility in government and we will get our chance to help make this change at the polls in the coming year, by voting for David Cameron and the Conservatives.

I know just how difficult things are for so many people in these difficult economic times, particularly as unemployment has rocketed across East Renfrewshire over the past year. On behalf of my family and all at East Renfrewshire Conservatives can I wish you a very Happy Christmas and best wishes for 2010.

Baby Joy puts everything into perspective

Elaine delivered a beautiful baby boy this morning at 9.37am. Weighing in at a massive 9lb 10.5oz we have a very big boy on our hands with big lungs and a ferocious appetite.

Despite the rumours, Myles Andrew Cook was not born by caesarean section because Elaine is "too posh to push", he was actually facing the wrong way - clearly having inherited his mothers sense of direction - and what Elaine calls a "sunroof job" was the safest way to ensure both mother and child remained healthy.

The staff at the Queen Mother's Hospital have been quite simply fantastic all day, helping us to get used to one another and sorting out Big MAC's low blood sugar level. If anyone ever questions the capabilities of our NHS they need only speak to anyone who has experienced the dedication and professionalism of midwifes up and down the country as a testimony to all that is best in our health service.

It will be a few days before I get mother and baby home and I can't wait to introduce him to the dozens and dozens of people who have been so eager to meet little Cookie. Elaine is insistent on a "no canvassing with the baby" clause until he is a little older but I think I might manage to cart him around for leaflet delivery when the weather suits.

Today's events put everything I do into perspective and fill me with a sense that it has never been more important to campaign for a new government in order that Myles and his generation grow up with hope for the future. If my generation fail generations to come we will leave them paying off the massive national debt being incurred today to pay off current generations greed and stupidity. Holding your own baby just a minute or so after his birth really is a bewildering experience that it is difficult to put into words. So here's to Myles and Elaine with all my love and adoration - I just never thought I would blog on such a miraculous event and thank God I am able to do so today.

Good News - Bad News

The news that Gordon Brown is to spend up to £200billion to bolster our ailing banks is very bad news indeed unless you believe it is 100% guaranteed to work! While it is right to do everything we can to avoid complete disaster it is wrong to take risks and gambles and to accelerate our national debt by an additional £200billion given he already intends to leave us owing £1.1 trillion by the end of 2011.

Could we be looking at bankrupt Britain? I very much fear we might be if the true level of toxic debt held by our big four banks is greater than the money now on offer. If it is they will surely go down - rendering our shareholding in them worthless.

If Plan B fails, (given this is his second attempt to bale out our banks), we should prepare ourselves for the IMF to declare us a basket case and to take over the running of our economy. The thought of external influences setting our levels of taxation, deciding how much capital and interest we repay to the world before spending anything that remains on the NHS, eduction or defence is simply frightening as a British patriot.



And what is the good news, I hear you ask? Well ,if there is nothing else to cheer me up before the Summer, I am to become a father for the first time in July - thanks to my beautiful wife Elaine. So, no matter how bad Gordon Brown makes the economy of our country and how difficult it becomes to make ends meet, I know there is something worth working for on the horizon and someone for whom I must fight to make our country better in the future!

Who's A Very Lucky Boy Then!

You always realise how lucky you really are on those special occasions when family and friends rally round to help celebrate with you.

It was my 37th birthday yesterday and from start to finish family and friends did all they could to ensure I enjoyed my day and to make me feel just a little special - if only to them!

Whether it was my cards in the morning, a bottle of champagne from a business partner before lunch, or the trip to London for dinner and a relaxing weekend organised by my wife, Elaine, everything people did for me yesterday emphasised to me how tremendously lucky I am to be surrounded by the people who are important to me.

So thank you everyone, I had a wonderful day thanks to wonderful people! Let's hope I am able to do the same for you when your time comes.