WHILE some commentators have spent considerable time focusing on what our new representatives have been having for lunch or where we’re sitting in the House of Commons chamber, for the SNP MPs, these last three weeks have seen all 56 of us beginning the hard work needed to represent our constituents effectively at Westminster and across Scotland.

Not so long ago, our group was engaged in day jobs ranging from teachers and doctors to charity workers, students and lawyers. In the last couple of weeks we’ve already got down to business in our new roles by setting up and holding advice surgeries, visiting local employers and dealing with the couple of hundred of emails a day we’ve been receiving looking for individual help or support for a cause. It has been fantastic to carry out my first official engagements as a new Member of Parliament in visiting Lornshill Academy’s Community Sport Hub, and meeting local apprentices in Clackmannanshire.

It’s now time for us all to step up yet another gear to start to deliver on the commitments we made during the election campaign, and I know from all my discussions with my new colleagues that every one of us is relishing the challenge ahead.

Today’s Queen’s Speech is another landmark occasion which marks the official opening of the Parliament in Westminster. In a fanfare of pomp and ceremony we’ll finally hear from Her Majesty what the Government’s plans are for the next year, and our historic SNP group, now the third-largest group in the House of Commons, can begin our serious task of holding David Cameron and his team to account.

And if any Westminster Government needed a strong opposition, this one would be it. But this doesn’t just mean opposition for opposition’s sake. We must make a positive case for change.

With our unprecedented mandate, and the Labour Party in disarray in both London and Edinburgh, the job of the SNP is now to be the standard-bearer for progressive politics.

We’ll play a constructive role in this Parliament by making the case for building a strong society alongside a strong economy. We have a responsibility to start to deliver on our promises to propose a workable alternative to austerity, which balances the needs of the most vulnerable in our communities with our commitment to reducing the UK’s deficit over a longer period of time.

Starting this week, we’ll begin work to secure, as swiftly as possible, the extra powers for the Scottish Parliament that we were promised. Even David Cameron and George Osborne should understand that given the Tories’ wanting performance north of the Border on May 7, they simply have no mandate in Scotland to impose their regressive agenda. Holyrood should quickly take charge of a range of key areas where we can make a positive difference.

The people of Scotland demand as such.

For example, with powers over social security we can build a safety net to protect those in need, not kick people when they’re down by imposing £12 billion of new cuts as the Tories currently propose.

With powers over employment policy we can protect workers’ rights, increase the minimum wage and help lift thousands out of working poverty. Powers over business taxation would allow us to grow our economy through measures like reducing Air Passenger Duty to boost Scotland’s vibrant tourism sector.

These aren’t powers for politicians. These are the powers needed to create new jobs, increase tax revenues and positively impact on people’s lives. It’s the change Scotland voted for, not only at the General Election but in last year’s referendum too.

Today’s speech will also start to set out the timetable for the referendum on whether we should stay within the European Union. Starting today and throughout this Parliament we’ll make the positive case for membership of the EU, and why it’s in Scotland’s social and economic interests to stay part of it.

At the same time, the SNP will stand up for human rights, and champion the liberties protected by the Human Rights Act.

In all these areas and more, we have a lot of work to do, not just to protect the interests of Scotland from the impact of a Government that it rejected at the ballot box, but to work with others across the Parliament to deliver on our own promises as set out in our manifesto.

I, for one, am glad that the influx of new MPs from Scotland has shifted the centre of balance within the House of Commons. Because of the SNP group, this particular institution has hopefully moved a little way towards becoming more modern, and a little less stuffy than it has often been in the past.

Now we need to put all our skills, real life experience and our electoral mandate to practical use to speak up for Scotland. We will ensure Scotland’s best interests are at the very heart of every speech we make, and every question we ask.

Our constituents would expect no less of us. Our task is at hand.