At the UK level, Keir Starmer’s Labour Party is engulfed in a bitter civil war, while the Tories leak more members to Reform, which is becoming a retirement home for the disastrous Liz Truss cabinet.

With the London-based parties, including the Lib Dems, taking an anti-democratic stance by denying the case for Scotland’s electorate to have a say on how they are governed in the future, those of us backing independence need to stand firm and ensure a strong vote in May.

The signs are clear that the SNP Scottish Government is making progress.

Our NHS has started to turn a corner, and Scots continue to receive the best cost-of-living support in the UK – that’s what the relentless focus of First Minister John Swinney on the priorities of the people of Scotland brings.

This could not be better illustrated by the fact that a new report has shown that Scotland has the lowest child poverty rates in the UK.

According to the report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, national policy choices have ‘shaped outcomes in Scotland’, with child poverty ‘much lower in Scotland (23%) than in England and Wales (both 31%)’ as it gave special mention to the Scottish Child Payment, still unique to Scotland within the UK, which it described as a ‘key factor’.

This landmark report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation is absolutely clear – thanks to action taken by the SNP in government child poverty rates in Scotland are the lowest in the UK.

And the Scottish Parliament is doing everything it can to keep bringing costs down.

We are opening a breakfast club in every primary school – helping families with costs and wraparound care, and ensuring bairns are ready to learn.

Record funding for housing means more young Scots will be able to find a home they can afford.

The Scottish Government has committed to investing up to £4.9 billion over the next four years, backed by a record £4.1 billion of public investment. This is helping to deliver 36,000 affordable homes and providing a place to live for around 24,000 children. This is providing more multi-year certainty than ever before.

Alongside this, I welcome the announcement of a new national housing agency, and the fact that rural and island housing is one of the key areas on which it will focus.

The aim is to deliver new homes more quickly, more affordably, in more liveable, climate friendly communities. A process to co-design the functions and model of the agency will be led by Housing Secretary Màiri McAllan in partnership with local authorities and the Scottish National Investment Bank.

I look forward to an update on plans for the agency, which is due to be delivered to the Parliament in March.

This is a regular column by SNP MSP Emma Roddick. All Highlands and Islands MSPs have been offered the same space in The Orkney News to share their personal views.