• Ed Davey vows to defend Bank of England against Farage’s threats to its independence after meeting with Andrew Bailey
• Mandatory Digital ID for 13 year olds: “sinister, unnecessary, and a clear step towards state overreach.”
• McArthur sets out amendments to assisted dying bill
• Wishart submits 3,500-word ferry consultation response

Ed Davey vows to defend Bank of England against Farage’s threats to its independence after meeting with Andrew Bailey

This morning Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey and Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper met with Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey to reaffirm support for the bank’s independence. Commenting after his meeting, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said:

A fortnight ago, Nigel Farage stood on the steps of the Bank of England and showed just what a danger to our economic interests he is.

Once again putting his obsession with mimicking Donald Trump ahead of what is in the best interests of the British people, Farage attacked the independence of our central bank. Trump’s threats to sack governors of the Fed if they don’t do what he wants are causing economic panic in the United States. That is the last thing we need here at home – we cannot let Trump’s America become Farage’s Britain.

Liberal Democrats will stand firmly behind Bank of England independence, just as we have stood against recent attacks on the independence of our judiciary. Those who seek to plunge our country into chaos are no patriots – they are putting their own narrow political interests first. Instead of undermining Britain’s economic foundations, we need a real plan for growth that includes rebuilding trade with our European neighbours.

Mandatory Digital ID for 13 year olds: “sinister, unnecessary, and a clear step towards state overreach.”

Responding to reports that the Government is considering rolling out mandatory digital ID for those aged 13 and up, Victoria Collins, Liberal Democrat Science, Innovation & Technology spokesperson said:

This is proof that the Liberal Democrats were absolutely right to warn about mission creep.

The Government is already plotting to drag teenagers into a mandatory digital ID scheme before it’s even off the ground. It’s frankly sinister, unnecessary, and a clear step towards state overreach.

McArthur sets out amendments to assisted dying bill

Liam McArthur MSP has today lodged a number of amendments to his Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill ahead of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee beginning their Stage 2 scrutiny of the Bill on 4th November.

The amendments lodged today respond both to points raised by the Committee’s Stage 1 Report and the input and advice of medical, legal and care organisations Mr McArthur has met with in the months since his Bill passed its Stage 1 vote.

The amendments include clarifying that a person is not terminally ill only because they have a disability or mental disorder, that doctors can request information from health and social care professionals involved in treating a patient when considering if a person is eligible for an assisted death and that Scottish Ministers can determine the level of qualification and experience a registered medical practitioner or registered nurse performing the role of authorised health professional must have.

Additionally Liam McArthur MSP’s amendments introduce the following provisions:

• A “no-duty to participate directly in assisted dying” clause for health care professionals. This replaces the previous conscientious objection provision in the Bill. Alongside the training that any health care professional will complete in order to undertake assisted dying provision, this has the effect of creating an ‘opt in’ system rather than it being the responsibility of medical professionals to ‘opt out’.

• Extending the offence of coercion to cover all stages of the assisted dying process including administration of medication. Previously the new offence applied only to earlier stages in the application process. Adding to the offence already in the Bill of coercing or pressuring a terminally ill adult into making a first or second declaration, is a new offence of coercing or pressuring a terminally ill adult into using an approved substance.

• A duty on Scottish ministers to provide information to terminally ill adults, health and care professionals and the general public and to ensure that information is accessible and understandable.

• Inclusion on death certificates of the approved substance provided to an individual in addition to the terminal illness that contributed to their death.

Mr McArthur has also indicated that he will support an amendment from Sandesh Gulhane raising the age of eligibility to 18, having previously indicated that he would be open to bringing forward an amendment to this effect.

Liam McArthur MSP said:

Now that Parliament has approved the principles of the Bill, the focus rightly shifts to safe and compassionate implementation. The amendments I have lodged today take on board the views of experts who will have a role in the delivery of extending the choice of assisted dying to terminally ill patients and address points that the Parliament’s Health Committee wished to see clarified at this stage in the process.

My intention is to work with MSP colleagues to ensure we can introduce a new law that extends choice to dying people who need it and introduces a range of safeguards which are sorely lacking at present.

Each amendment I have submitted underpins the Bill’s driving principles of safety, compassion and choice. They balance the need for dying people to be able to access the option of assisted dying with strong protections put in place around that. They increase transparency around end of life care and decision making. They ensure that the decision of whether or not to participate in the process is firmly in the hands of individual medics by shifting from an opt out to an opt in system.

I would also like to welcome the constructive amendments submitted by Sandesh Gulhane, Miles Briggs, Daniel Johnson and Emma Harper as well as the willingness of many other colleagues to work with me on this legislation.

I am confident that together we will deliver the right law that improves end of life care for all in Scotland.

Wishart submits 3,500-word ferry consultation response

After ongoing and extensive engagement with constituents, Scottish Liberal Democrat and Shetland MSP Beatrice Wishart has submitted a 3,500-word response to the Scottish Government’s Northern Isles Ferry Services 4 (NIFS4) contract consultation, demanding improvements to benefit local residents.

Ms Wishart highlighted the issues raised with her by constituents and passengers travelling on the NorthLink ferry service including:

• Changing the booking system to allow rolling bookings with no cut-offs, as is currently the situation.
• The return of shared cabins and the reinstatement of concession voucher value for use of a berth in a cabin.
• Removal of seasonal fares for islanders and retained cabin spaces for last-minute islander travel.
• More spaces to lie flat on the overnight crossing in contrast to pods and pod lounges.
• Defining a lifeline service so that operators, businesses and passengers have a shared understanding of the provision of services.

The NorthLink service is periodically put out to contract for operators to bid to run the service on behalf of Transport Scotland and the Scottish Government using the government-owned vessels. The current contract, operated by Serco, began on 30th June 2020 and is set to run to 30th June 2028.

In 2023 Ms Wishart launched a ferries survey asking isles residents and passengers to outline their experience of the service. Around 1,000 respondents gave their views, which Ms Wishart subsequently raised with the Scottish Government.

Commenting on her submission, Ms Wishart said:

It is a continual source of frustration that under this SNP government, passengers feel like they are fighting for scraps.

It has been a mammoth effort to try to bring together all of the points and issues that passengers and businesses have raised with me. While acknowledging the co-operation of staff at NorthLink, there are plenty of changes they would like to see for the new contract.

Problems with the booking system, a lack of capacity and islanders paying seasonal fares are not new issues. They are things that my party and I have been raising with for years and ones that Transport Scotland and the SNP government have chosen to ignore.

Over the past few years I have raised issues with the ferry services with the Scottish Government countless times. Responses from the Scottish Government on these important services have been intransigent and are often kicked down the road, with the explanation that a review of some kind will resolve the issue. Reviews have come and gone with little to no change.

Now the Scottish Government must listen to the outcome of this consultation process and finally make changes. A fresh contract is a good time to set out a new understanding with islanders’ needs at the heart of the service.