EARLIER this month, I attended the 167th Famous Alva Games. Though I've been many times, the games serve as a reminder of who we are, where we come from, and what we have to offer others – and as ever, it drew visitors from across the world.

Congratulations to the organisers for another successful event which also served as a reminder of how lucky we are to live here in Clackmannanshire, especially at the foot of the Ochils.

This is my first Alloa Advertiser column since the election – and there's no denying that it was a tough night for the SNP. I congratulate Brian Leishman on his win, and I wish him well for the future.

Over the last nine years, SNP MPs made a significant contribution to Westminster, and though reduced in number, the nine SNP MPs in Westminster are already proving themselves to be the real opposition to the new UK Government.

This week they introduced an amendment to scrap the two-child cap – which both UK parties want to keep.

As has been covered in the Alloa Advertiser before, more than 1 in 4 children in Clackmannanshire live in poverty – that is unacceptable in Scotland in the 21st century.

I welcomed Brian Leishman's statement after the election that ending child poverty would be a priority for him.

But to end child poverty, you actually need to do something about it.

That's why I can't understand why he, and all of his Scottish Labour colleagues – with one exception (who didn't vote) – decided to support this policy. It's Labour's two-child cap now.

Within just three weeks it's become clear that the Scottish Labour party – who we were repeatedly told supported ending the two-child cap and would stand up to Keir Starmer – remains a branch office of the UK Labour party and will always fall in line on the issues that matter.

During the election campaign, the SNP repeatedly warned the Labour Party's damaging decision to copy Tory fiscal rules and spending plans would mean around £18billion of cuts or tax rises - a view shared by the Institute of Fiscal Studies. This was strongly denied by senior Labour figures including Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves, Ian Murray and Anas Sarwar.

Labour have finally been forced to admit the concerns were well founded, with reports over the weekend the Sunday Times, The Observer and other newspapers that the chancellor is planning to cut investment in hospital building, railways and roads among other public services and infrastructure.

People in Scotland will be openly questioning why, after being promised there would be no cuts, no tax rises, and no austerity, this new Labour government is choosing to dramatically break its promise within weeks of being elected.

If the Labour government takes the axe to our public services, they will be breaking their word and failing to deliver the change people in Scotland voted for.

And if the promise of 'change' becomes 'no change', then Scots will conclude that 'real change' can only come with independence.