It’s great to be back after a wee health scare and where better to start than in Inverclyde. We’re in the news because Labour leader of Inverclyde Council Stephen McCabe went ballistic on the BBC railing against deprivation and de-population and suggesting an influx of African migrants was the answer.

Then the First Minister John Swinney came doon-the-water to explain away SNP false promises of four new orders for ships at Ferguson Marine which, not believing, fired a quarter of its workforce.

Meanwhile, 1500 job losses in our call centres and the looming cash squeeze at Greenock Morton FC add to the gloom. So, what qualifies me to give an opinion on how to fix Inverclyde?

First, I was born in Greenock in 1964 and I stayed here until 1982 receiving a first-class education at Ardgowan Primary and Greenock Academy. Second, as Under Secretary of State for Scotland, I sat on the Inverclyde Task Force in 2023-24 working with the council.

I was instrumental in delivering £60m of direct investment into Inverclyde from UK Government levelling-up funds, and I was especially proud that represented £722 per person in Inverclyde versus £562 across Scotland.

The UK Government was impressed with the council’s ambitions to regenerate Greenock town centre including the removal of the unsightly bullring, the development of the Ocean Terminal and future proofing of Inchgreen dry dock. Add the renovation of the Battery Park football pitches and the iconic Glebe warehouse and this is the most significant renovation of Greenock since the 1960s.

Emboldened, the council challenged the Scottish Government to match UK Government funding to facilitate the renovation of Port Glasgow, a comprehensive upgrade of business premises for SMEs and an innovative back-to-work pilot scheme for economically inactive adults in Inverclyde.

Needless to say that warm words were received from Holyrood but no money. At this point, can I please get something off my chest? By taking issue with the political labelling of Inverclyde being “the most deprived part of Scotland if not the UK”. I’ve heard this my whole adult life and it’s simply not true.

Yes, there are major challenges like the population declining from 120,000 when I was a boy to 78,000 today, plus the harsh reality that 14,000 adults of working age are economically inactive and parked on welfare. But on the upside, this community is vibrant and full of talented, innovative and kind people. Moreover, the scenery is breath-taking making Inverclyde an attractive place to WFH combined with a commute to Glasgow, and a wonderful safe place to raise a family.

So, how do we fix Inverclyde? And why does this matter? Because Inverclyde is a microcosm of Scotland. Fix Inverclyde and we can fix Scotland; with the same demographic mix of affluence and deprivation, same challenges of depopulation and economic inactivity and the same need for a vision to make our people wealthy and healthy. To achieve this, the single biggest focus needs to be on JOBS.

My Three-Point Recovery Plan for Inverclyde requires UK Government, Scottish Government and Inverclyde Council to work together by each doing three things.

The days of mass employment in Inverclyde are gone; never again will 16,000 jobs in shipbuilding be replaced by 8,000 jobs in electronics be replaced by 2,000 jobs in call centres in ever decreasing circles. No, we need to rebuild Inverclyde one job at a time, one SME at a time.

Let me finish by disagreeing with Councillor McCabe’s plan for mass immigration. No doubt, the recent influx from Nigeria are lovely people with mainly Christian values; I just don’t understand why they are here when Nigeria is a safe country whose economy is booming at 4% per annum while ours is flatlining.

Their best opportunity lies at home, whereas our first responsibility must be to help our own folk back to work, to build a thriving micro economy for the benefit of our own community and give priority access to local jobs and public services to local people here in Inverclyde.