The following speech was delivered to the Conservative Ladies' Christmas Luncheon in Broughty Ferry on Saturday 7 December.

Ladies, it is always a great pleasure to speak at one of your luncheons and I am particularly pleased to have been invited to address your Xmas luncheon, because I have a couple of real Xmas stories to tell you.

In a major conference held at the European Parliament on Wednesday, December 4, human rights violations in Iran, the Geneva nuclear agreement, and the massacre and hostage-taking in Camp Ashraf were debated in the presence of a large number of MEPs from various political groups and with the participation of Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

The following article appeared in the Stirling Observer on 4 December 2013:

Struan has written a letter to Algirdas Semeta, European Commissioner for Taxation, Customs, Statistics, Audit and Anti-Fraud, about recent proposals by the Commission to renew excise tax preferences in favour of French rum that may harm Scotch Whisky exports.

Please click here to read the letter in full:  Part 1, Part 2

Struan was interviewed on the BBC World Service's Newsday programme discussing the plight of ethnic minorities in Iraq.

Please click here to listen to Struan's interview.

A Scottish Euro MP has just returned from four days in Iraq, where he visited Syrian refugee camps, and discussed the country’s worsening human rights situation and persecution of minorities with senior political leaders.

The following article appeared in Scotland on Sunday on 24 November 2013:

Just over a year ago, Michael Moore, the then Secretary of State for Scotland, told the BBC that 16 and 17 year-olds should not be allowed to vote in the referendum on independence. A week is a long time in politics and a year is an epoch, but in that time the Edinburgh Agreement has been signed giving 16 and 17 year olds the right to vote for the first time ever and Michael Moore has been sent to the back-benches to ponder his future.

This month, Struan praises Malala Yousafzai as she collects her Sakharov Prize, highlights religious freedoms under threat worldwide, reports on the aquaculture industry in Vietnam and Laos and calls for greater regulation of e-cigarettes.

Please click here to read more.

From 25 October to 5 November, as Vice President of the European Parliament's Fisheries Committee, Struan travelled to Laos and Vietnam, at the invitation of these governments, to examine their prospects for aquaculture.

Please click here to download his photo report of the trip.