Highlands and Islands MSP Emma Roddick marked the 20th anniversary of the Railways Act (2005) in a speech to the Scottish Parliament today, celebrating the devolution of control over Scotland’s rail services as a powerful example of what Scotland can achieve with greater self-governance. She emphasised that independence would allow Scotland to take full control [...]

Emma stands on a pier in the Cromarty Firth, on the eve of the 2014 referendum. Without the independence referendum, there’s not a chance I’d be doing what I’m doing today.  I wasn’t taught that there was a place for me in politics, certainly not parliament.  I was a campaigner: I was a [...]

SNP MSP Emma Roddick has slammed the Labour government for upholding the Conservatives’ Internal Market Act, a piece of legislation which both the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd refused consent for when it was brought forward. The Act allows UK Ministers to override decisions made in devolved areas. Speaking in a debate on protecting the [...]

Scotland is at a turning point. We're all worried about things from rising costs of household goods and busy hospitals to global challenges like climate change, pandemics, and unfairness in our society. We desperately want and need to see things get better. But the way things are now, Scotland is not able to properly tackle [...]

Scotland faces unique demographic challenges. Unlike other countries in the UK, we are projected to see population decline by 2030, which cannot be overcome by birth rates alone. Put simply, we need more people to move here to live and work. This is especially true in the Highlands and Islands. Since Brexit, and due to [...]

We still have a chance to build a better Scotland ten years on from the 2014 Scottish Independence referendum, an SNP MSP has said. Speaking in the Parliament on the 10th anniversary of the vote last week, Emma Roddick urged independence supporters not to lose hope and to continue pushing for an independent Scotland. Commenting a decade later, Emma said: “Ten years ago on [...]

MSP for the Highlands and Islands Emma Roddick believes that businesses in the Highlands and Islands would benefit from operating in an independent Scotland, compared to the current setup. Many businesses in the region have struggled with staffing since the UK left the EU, despite Scotland voting overwhelmingly in favour of remaining a member.  This, alongside tightening of immigration rules, has seen many [...]

Local MSP Emma Roddick has welcomed plans to protect the right to healthcare access, available at the point of need, by including the NHS in an independent Scotland’s written constitution. The plans to create a constitution that provides recognition of the NHS in Scotland were included in the fourth Building A New Scotland paper from [...]

SNP MSP Emma Roddick has welcomed the publication of a new paper by the Scottish Government that outlines the opportunities of a written constitution for an independent Scotland. The paper is the fourth in the Scottish Government's Building a New Scotland, which aims to inform the Scottish independence debate. Previous papers have compared other similar-sized [...]

Highlands & Islands MSP Emma Roddick has said that the UK Government has undermined devolution by interfering with Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme - delaying the scheme’s launch. Reacting to the news that the scheme will now launch no earlier than 2025, rather than March next year as planned, Ms Roddick said that the UK Government’s [...]