• Davey: commit British typhoon jets to strengthen Zelensky’s hand
• Poorly thought out reforms only risk leaving parts of the country significantly worse off
• Scottish Government must listen to Scot Lib Dem plans for cancer screening
• Scotland’s LED road signs break down 1,419 times

Davey: commit British typhoon jets to strengthen Zelensky’s hand

Following the conclusion of yesterday’s talks between Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said:

Trump’s plan to hand Ukrainian territory to Putin would not bring peace. It would be the greatest reward for aggression in living memory, and only lead to more Russian aggression in Ukraine and across Eastern Europe.

Ahead of Zelensky’s trilateral with Putin, the UK and European leaders need to step up. For Starmer that means making a commitment to providing British typhoons to the Ukrainian air force, seizing the frozen Russian assets and showing Putin that we will continue to back Ukraine.

Poorly thought out reforms only risk leaving parts of the country significantly worse off

Responding to County Councils warning that Government proposals will place an unfair burden on rural taxpayers, Liberal Democrat Housing, Communities and Local Government Spokesperson Vikki Slade MP said:

Councils across the country are already teetering on the edge after years of Conservatives’ neglect of local funding and services – from bus services cuts in rural areas to the rising costs of social care. These ill thought out reforms only risk leaving parts of the country significantly worse off.

To truly help local authorities, the Government should urgently look at supporting councils who receive the least grant funding and those that face additional pressure on services in rural and coastal areas, to help them with spiralling costs.

Scottish Government must listen to Scot Lib Dem plans for cancer screening

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today urged the Scottish Government to adopt his party’s plans for a national lung cancer screening programme, as new figures showed that a rise in the number of deaths from cancer in Scotland.

Two new reports from Public Health Scotland into cancer incidence and mortality out today reveal:

• The number of deaths due to cancer has increased by 3.2% (to 16,265 from 15,764 in 2013)

• 1 in 4 cancer deaths (24%) are due to lung cancer. The rate of lung cancer was more than three times higher in the most deprived areas compared with the least deprived.

• There have been big increases in liver cancer. In men, liver cancer deaths have risen by 15% and among women, liver cancer deaths have increased by 20%.

• For all cancers combined (excluding non-melanoma skin cancer), rates were 24% higher in the most deprived areas compared with the least deprived.

In the first quarter of 2025 only 68.9% of cancer patients were seen within the 62-day standard treatment time, the worst performance since records began. The target has never been met since it was introduced in 2012.

Scottish Liberal Democrats have launched a petition which calls for the SNP government to roll out a full, nationwide screening programme for lung cancer, which experts say could hundreds of lives every year.

Three years ago, the UK National Screening Committee recommended that the whole of the UK introduce lung cancer screening to help prevent the disease or catch it early. The programme is targeted at those who are high risk: people aged between 55 and 74, and who smoke or who used to.

It is already being implemented in England, and Wales has now announced that it will also do a full rollout. Currently, there are no plans by the Scottish Government to do the same.

The petition can be found HERE.

Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

Cancer patients cannot depend on this SNP government.

In Scotland, more people die of lung cancer than any other form of disease. Survival rates aren’t much better than what they were in the 1970s.

International studies show Scotland falling behind with cancer care. The SNP’s failure to roll out a national lung cancer screening programme is another example of that.

My party wants to see the government ending their dithering and making a full rollout of this screening programme a top priority. We know there isn’t a moment to lose when it comes to getting cancer patients life-saving interventions.

Access to diagnosis and treatment is a postcode lottery across the country. We need serious investment in both diagnostics and staff, and an end to patchwork care.

The public should back our campaign and help us to fix cancer prevention, diagnosis and care.

Scotland’s LED road signs break down 1,419 times

Scottish Liberal Democrat transport spokesperson Jamie Greene has today pressed the Scottish Government over the impact on traffic as figures uncovered by his party revealed that the average LED sign deployed on Scotland’s road network breaks down more than once per year.

Figures from Transport Scotland uncovered by Scottish Liberal Democrats reveal that there are 313 variable message signs deployed on Scotland’s road network, including 56 on the M90, 48 on the M74, 25 on the M80, 21 on the M8 and 20 on the A9.

From January 2021 to March 2025, these signs required 1,419 fault repairs. This means that the average sign had to be fixed 4.5 times in a little over four years.

Commenting on the figures, Jamie Greene said:

Traffic drives people round the bend. There’s no worse feeling than having a holiday or a commute disrupted by road works, repairs or long tailbacks.

Scotland has invested heavily in measures like LED signs to keep road users safe and informed. Unfortunately these signs seem to be prone to breakdowns of their own.

We asked how much these signs cost to install and repair and Transport Scotland were unable to answer. High tech solutions are all well and good but perhaps Transport Scotland should set out what benefits these signs provide and whether they think they are providing good value for money.