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At the very beginning of every election campaign in which I have been a candidate I have pledged at the outset not to descend to personal attacks on my political opponents. I have always stood by that and while I will certainly be robust in attacking daft policies, I will keep to my strongly held principles in keeping personalities out of the campaign.
Unfortunately, politics seems to be on a downward spiral to the gutter in terms of the quality of debate and the participation of politicians. Social media has become the repository of false information and a means to attack one’s opponents – sometimes in the most despicable ways. The result has been a collapse in trust and respect for many politicians. Some of that fall in trust and respect is justified but the public will have the final judgement on that. I will continue to follow what now may appear a rather old-fashioned concept of public service and hard work within the constituency. I have served the people and the businesses and organisations within much of this constituency for the past 15 years as MSP. In doing so I have meticulously kept to my work and responsibilities and ignored the fake or twisted information put around about myself and my fellow politicians. I am well aware that I am not alone in receiving such treatment. Most politicians are subjected to unacceptable personal abuse, and female politicians seem to be intensely abused more than most others. I look forward to a good campaign where the merits of differing policies can be debated, and the voting public can decide to whom they will lend their vote without distraction and without being deceived by contaminated reports of false rumours presented as facts. ENDS
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