Clydebank Blitz This month we commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Clydebank Blitz, when the town was devastated by Luftwaffe air raids over the nights of March 13 and 14, 1941.

As everyone knows, hundreds of people died and thousands of homes were destroyed as Clydebank had become a target for the Nazis because of the shipbuilding and munitions industries.

It is great credit to the people of Clydebank that so many stayed put and helped rebuild the town from its near total destruction despite many of them having lost loved ones and their homes.

It was a great pleasure to take part in events in Clydebank over the weekend to commemorate the Blitz - particularly to remember those who died and the ordeals suffered by those who survived. Their stories should never be forgotten.

Unemployment The latest local unemployment figures published last month made for very worrying reading.

In West Dunbartonshire the number of people out of work and claiming Jobseekers Allowance rose from 3,481 to 3,810 on the previous month - representing the biggest monthly rise in the local jobless total for seven years.

But the last time unemployment rose by that much there were still almost 1,000 less people out of work.

Last spring unemployment was falling in our area because the previous Labour Government had successfully fought to pull the UK out of recession, and delivered support to help get people back to work in the tough times.

Now we're seeing the impact of the Conservative-led Government's reckless approach to the economy.

They are cutting faster and deeper than is safe, and it is costing local people their jobs.

International Women's Day People all over the world celebrated International Women's Day (IWD) on March 8.

It's an annual event but this year was very special as it marked the centenary of IWD.

So it was an opportunity this year to celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of women over the last 100 years, and to highlight the issues which still today hold women back all over the globe, and I took part in several events at Westminster to do so.

Unfair pension changes On the theme of fairness for women, I have been contacted by many local women in their fifties furious at planned Government changes to pensions which will cost them thousands of pounds.

The Conservative-led Government wants to bring forward the equalisation of the state pension age by two years so that it reaches 65 for women by 2018 and 66 by 2020.

These plans will deny 33,000 women in their mid-fifties of over £10,000, and some 500,000 women of between £5,000 and £10,000.

This is fundamentally unfair on women who have planned for their retirement on the assumption that they will reach state pension age in 2018.

With just seven years to plan they now must work two more years before being able to draw a state pension.

I believe the Government should take a different, fairer, approach to this.

The state pension age should be equalised for men and women, but the previous Labour Government set out a much fairer plan for this and we continue to support the principle of equalisation further down the line.

Our alternative would mean there would be no change before 2020.

Our proposals would affect 1.2 million fewer people than under the Government's plans, and it would affect men and women equally.

The Conservative-led Government's plans treat women unfairly and I will continue to campaign for a different approach in Parliament.