SINCE I was first elected in 2017, I’ve had to deal with more than my fair share of sanctimonious opinions from left-wing politicians who always think they know best. 

The grievance mongering and the constant blame games have never ceased to amaze me. You’d have been forgiven then for believing that when the Conservatives lost power just over a month ago, that change had arrived, and politics would be done differently. 

Yet last week’s announcement by SNP finance secretary Shona Robison on the state of the nation’s finances featured the same old tired rhetoric we’ve become accustomed to from her party. 

We may have a new UK Government but the SNP haven’t switched off their grievance machine just yet. Despite sitting on a record block grant from the previous Conservative government, Robison’s announcement threatens to usher in SNP austerity on stilts. 

Hard-pressed Glaswegians are set to see their winter fuel allowance payments disappear, jobs in our public services cut to the bone and being hit with even higher taxes. 

All of this against a backdrop of pay rises to keep unions happy and avoid the embarrassment of more bad headlines as rubbish piled up on the streets. 

The reality is Scotland’s economy is broken and the SNP only have themselves to blame. 

Their financial mismanagement during their 17 years in office has delivered a £1.5 billion black hole in our finances and they have no idea how to fix it. 

Now Scotland is faced with two parties who are obsessed with growing the public sector, while failing to recognise the need to equally invest and grow our private sector. 

Their failure to engage businesses constantly puts off investors and it is right here in Glasgow that we are paying the price for that attitude. 

That is why I believe the leadership contests currently taking place both in Scotland and the UK in my party are so crucial for the future of conservativism across the country. 

Glaswegians and the whole of the UK needs a modern, centre-right alternative to choose from. 

We have reached a point where we must have a frank conversation about how we are being governed, and the policy decisions that are harming working people. 

Robison is slashing our public sector and making pensioners fret over winter, yet refuses to accept responsibility for the black hole her party has created. 

From the half a billion wasted on ferries that still haven’t entered service, to failed investments at BiFab, the botched deposit return scheme, or the tens of millions blown on the Rangers prosecution, their mismanagement is all over it. 

And the only answer has been to put up taxes. And not on those who really can afford it, but for anyone earning over £28,000. 

The SNP’s priorities are all wrong and it is time that they were honest about the reality of their decisions and what it means for the public purse. 

SNP ministers regularly try and boast about how things are done differently here. But the reality is many of the policies they talk up such as free prescriptions, free tuition and council tax freezes, are not free.  

We all pay for them, yet while we pay more in SNP-run Scotland, we are not getting better public services. 

I know my opponents will already be screaming reading this and thinking ‘he’s a typical Tory, he wants us to pay for stuff’ but I don’t. 

My mission is to equalise opportunity for everyone in Scotland, no matter your postcode, but right now these policies are benefitting better-off families, to the detriment of many of our most deprived areas, including people I represent in Shettleston. 

When an NHS appointment is cancelled, or a knee operation scrapped, those in other parts of Glasgow might be able to afford going private but communities like mine don’t have that availability. 

When universities change entry criteria to make it harder to get in due to a limited number of placements, kids from other areas of the city may be able to meet it due to private tuition, but communities like mine are left behind. 

It’s time to have a grown-up conversation about how we handle our finances here in Scotland and for everyone to take responsibility for making sure the public don’t foot the bill for their mismanagement. 

And that includes my party. Sometimes we might need to take decisions that are not politically convenient, but ultimately will prove to be right ones. 

Whoever wins the leadership contests have a mountain to climb as we rebuild trust in our party.  

It’s time to get back to our values and offer common sense policies for modern Scotland.