• Asylum hotels: state-endorsed robbery will not fix the crisis
• Lib Dem MP calls for National Crime Agency crackdown after “mountain of waste” uncovered in Oxfordshire
• Greene calls for Scotland-wide school fire safety audit
• Poll suggests Lib Dems can win over wide range of voters and take on SNP
• Scottish Conservatives seem to have nothing but name-calling left

Asylum hotels: state-endorsed robbery will not fix the crisis

Commenting on the Government’s annoucement to confiscate asylum seekers’ jewellery to pay for their housing costs, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson Max Wilkinson MP said:

The Government must fix the asylum system, but stripping vulnerable people of their family heirlooms will not fix a system that is costing taxpayers £6 million every day in hotel bills.

This policy goes against who we are – a nation that has long responded with compassion to those fleeing the worst atrocities imaginable.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for the end of asylum hotels and to give asylum seekers the right to work, so that they can support themselves financially, integrate and pay tax. That is how we bring down the bill – not by state-endorsed robbery.

Lib Dem MP calls for National Crime Agency crackdown after “mountain of waste” uncovered in Oxfordshire

The Liberal Democrat MP for Bicester and Woodstock, Calum Miller, has used an urgent question in Parliament to call on the Government to pay for a 150 metre illegal waste dump in Oxfordshire, and for the National Crime Agency to investigate the most serious cases.

The mountain of rubbish, which is situated in a field between the River Cherwell and the A34 near Kidlington, has been described by Calum as “pollution on a grotesque scale.”

Calum also suggested that the site has to “be seen to be believed” and condemned criminal fly-tipping gangs, who he said are “carefully planning operations to dump industrial waste in the countryside” without consideration for the “health of people or animals”.

Calum has today (Monday 17th November) used an urgent question in Parliament to call on the Secretary Of State to issue an “urgent directive” to clear up the site “before it is too late” for the River Cherwell. The cost of cleaning the pile of waste, which is up to 20 feet high, is more than the entire budget of Cherwell District Council. Calum also called for an Independent “root-and-branch review” into the Government’s response to waste crime.

Greene calls for Scotland-wide school fire safety audit

Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP for the West of Scotland Jamie Greene has urged the Scottish Government to conduct a Scotland-wide audit of fire safety in schools.

His call follows the publication of a concerning report on fire safety at one school in East Dunbartonshire.

Carried out at Lenzie Academy in October, the assessment found poorly protected escape routes, combustible materials stored improperly and ovens without doors.

The report contains 30 recommendations, including upgrading all fire doors in the school that do not offer at least half an hour of protection.

Mr Greene attempted to raise the issue in Parliament, submitting two urgent questions and a supplementary question at First Minister’s Questions, which were not selected by the Presiding Officer.

He has now written directly to Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, Jenny Gilruth, urging her to support East Dunbartonshire Council in fixing the situation and to consider a fire safety audit of all school buildings in Scotland.

Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP for West Scotland, Jamie Greene, said:

In my letter to the Education Secretary, I have urged her to seriously consider undertaking a wider review of fire safety in all Scottish schools.

Not only has the recent fire-risk assessment of Lenzie Academy caused real concern to pupils and parents in East Dunbartonshire, but it has also raised the very real possibility that pupils in other schools are learning in similarly under-protected buildings.

I have already received questions from constituents about fire safety standards across Scotland’s school estate.

That is why I am calling on the Education Secretary to not only work with East Dunbartonshire Council to rectify the situation at Lenzie Academy, but to conduct an audit of fire safety in all Scottish schools too.

Poll suggests Lib Dems can win over wide range of voters and take on SNP

Scottish Liberal Democrats have today said that a new YouGov poll shows that the party is the best placed pro-UK party to take on the SNP.

YouGov’s Scottish Political Snapshot, November 2025 published today asked “Which parties would Scots consider voting for with six months until the Scottish Parliament election?”

26% of voters said they were open to backing the Scottish Liberal Democrats, compared to 23% for Scottish Labour, 21% for Reform UK and just 15% for the Scottish Conservatives.

Election campaign chair Wendy Chamberlain MP said:

We know you feel let down by the other parties. Scotland has so much going for it but right now, it feels like our country simply isn’t working.

This poll shows that there are more voters open to voting Lib Dem than for any other pro-UK party.

The Conservatives and Reform are in a race to the right, backing harsher and harsher policies to win over a small slice of the electorate.

Meanwhile, Labour have wasted a huge opportunity on policies like the family farm tax and their jobs tax on businesses which is hurting high streets up and down the country.

Meanwhile Liberal Democrats are winning again, with more councillors, a record number of MPs and more to come.

In many constituencies we are on the verge of winning against the SNP but wherever you are, every vote for the Scottish Liberal Democrats on the second peach ballot will deliver change with fairness at its heart. Scotland deserves better. And with the Scottish Liberal Democrats, you can vote for it.

Scottish Conservatives seem to have nothing but name-calling left

Responding to reports that Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay has branded defector Graham Simpson a “snowflake” and accused him of an “act of treachery”, Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP for the West of Scotland Jamie Greene said:

I may not agree with Graham Simpson on much politically these days but the Conservatives would be better off asking themselves why they are shedding members, voters and parliamentarians to both the centre and the right, rather than resorting to bully boy behaviour and playground insults.

This country needs politicians to look for common ground but the Scottish Conservatives seem to have nothing but name-calling left.

The public are tired and fed up of arrogant establishment parties who have let them down time and time again. Scottish Liberal Democrats are focused on setting out a realistic and fiscally responsible plan to get things done, like delivering first-rate health care and getting Scotland moving again by fixing our roads, our ferries and our public transport.