In addition to my responsibilities on the Foreign Affairs Committee, I have also been asked to join the Council of Europe to give a strong Scottish perspective to the organisation, especially important in a post Brexit UK.

The Council of Europe is an organisation separate from the EU that has the responsibility, alongside the Council of Ministers, of upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law across its 47 member countries.• This is going to become especially critical when the UK leaves the EU and, if recent Government announcements are to be believed, the UK leaves the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Council of Europe meets in four plenary sessions a year and I have chosen to sit on the migration, refugees and displaced persons committee – a critical subject matter in Europe and beyond at the moment.

The work of the Council of Europe can be seen here: http://www.coe.int/en/