My father was a Dunfermline vet and my mother a medical doctor.

Full statement

They were firmly unionists but brought me up to take pride in the achievements of our Scottish forefathers.

I am married with adult children. For many years, I have run my own business near Edinburgh airport. Before that I qualified as a lawyer in England and worked first as a welfare rights lawyer and then as an asylum caseworker. I am scientifically literate and highly numerate.

Time and again I have seen laws, taxes and decisions by every level of government that show that most of our politicians and civil servants have not a clue about how the economy works, nor about human nature.

I want a Scotland which offers our children and grandchildren a worthwhile future with a growing economy that provides well-paying jobs and opportunities for those who want to work for themselves. A Scotland where well-led and well-managed public services are the envy of England and the wider world. One where they police the streets, not the tweets. A Scotland where our young people get a proper education.

In short, I am ambitious for a better Scotland.