• US-Russia call: Putin is “stringing Trump along”
• NICs vote: Labour MPs vote for “health tax” on GPs, pharmacies and care homes
• Conservative local election launch: “buck stops” with Badenoch
• “Time for a fair deal for farmers” – Carmichael to introduce Food Supply Chain Fairness Bill
• Scottish Government admits it failed to conduct safeguarding review
• Minister visited Skye House just months before cruelty allegations surfaced
• Severn Estuary Commission Report – Get on with Building the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon
• Rennie responds to damning evidence session on funding crisis at Dundee University

US-Russia call: Putin is “stringing Trump along”

Responding to Putin’s phone call with Trump, Calum Miller MP, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, said:

Donald Trump’s fawning call with Putin couldn’t be more different to his and JD Vance’s shameful bullying of Zelensky in the Oval Office.

It’s clear Trump is being played by Putin – stringing him along and currying favour even as his savage war machine continues to push deeper into Ukraine.

Now is the time for the UK and our allies in Europe and the Commonwealth to redouble our efforts to support Ukraine’s defence and achieve a lasting peace.

NICs vote: Labour MPs vote for “health tax” on GPs, pharmacies and care homes

Responding to the Government voting to reject a Liberal Democrat amendment which would have exempted health and care providers from the national insurance rise, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

Labour MPs today have voted for a health tax on GPs, dentists, pharmacies, hospices and care homes, and it is patients who will pay the price.

The Liberal Democrats are proud we have led the fight to exempt health and care providers from this misguided tax hike, and we will not give up now.

On April 6th worried social care providers and GP surgeries are going to be hit with bills they simply cannot afford. Rachel Reeves must finally see sense, U-turn on this disastrous policy and exempt health and care providers from this damaging jobs tax.

Conservative local election launch: “buck stops” with Badenoch

Commenting on the Conservatives’ local election launch tomorrow (20th March) a Liberal Democrat spokesperson said:

The buck stops with bungling Badenoch. If she fails to deliver in the local elections, the writing will truly be on the wall for her and for the Conservative Party.

Whilst they compete with Reform and tilt ever further to the right, the Liberal Democrats are focused on delivering for residents on issues including the cost of living, sewage in our rivers and the emergency in our NHS and care.

We’re hearing on the doorsteps that people haven’t forgiven the Conservatives for all the damage they’ve done. If Kemi speaks to voters tomorrow, she will doubtless hear the same. Voters have a clear choice in May, and across the country, including in Buckinghamshire, they are turning to the Liberal Democrats as community champions who will stand up for them.

On the Conservatives and the election delays in many areas, the spokesperson added:

Conservatives in councils such as Surrey and Hampshire asked for their elections to be delayed because they knew what the results would have been. The Conservatives are running scared of the Liberal Democrats across the country, and the Labour Government’s plans mean they will be in power well beyond their sell by date.

“Time for a fair deal for farmers” – Carmichael to introduce Food Supply Chain Fairness Bill

Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, has today announced plans to introduce the Food Supply Chain Fairness Bill in Parliament on Wednesday 19th March. The Bill is intended to introduce a range of provisions to get fairer prices for farmers and food producers across the UK, including strengthening the Groceries Code Adjudicator in terms of remit and resources, supporting greater public procurement of locally produced food, and enhanced origin labelling requirements.

Mr Carmichael will introduce the Bill to the House of Commons with a ten minute speech on Wednesday 19th March, following Prime Minister’s Question Time.

The Bill has been developed in discussion with farming and rural organisations including the National Farmers’ Union, the Country Land and Business Association, the Tenant Farmers’ Association, the Countryside Alliance and Scottish Land and Estates.

The Bill also fulfils Mr Carmichael’s commitment, made during the General Election last year, to reintroduce legislation to boost the powers of the Groceries Code Adjudicator.

Mr Carmichael is Chair of the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, which is currently holding an inquiry on “fairness in the food supply chain”.

Mr Carmichael said:

I am absolutely delighted to be able to introduce this Bill and to have dedicated time in the House to make the case for it. It was a major plank of my election campaign last year to reintroduce legislation which would beef up the role of the Groceries Code Adjudicator and other regulatory bodies, in support of fairness for farmers and food producers – so I am glad to be able to deliver on that promise with this Bill.

This is about supporting local farmers but it is also ultimately about supporting UK consumers too. The supermarkets have taken advantage of their market dominance for too long, and that is not working for anyone but them. If we want strong and vibrant rural communities in this country then we need a fair deal and fair prices for farmers and food producers.

I know from discussions that this is a matter of significant interest for the farming unions and other rural organisations, and I have been glad to have their advice and support in developing this Bill. The Groceries Code Adjudicator was an important step forward when my party created it in government, but it has not achieved everything that we wanted it to in terms of protecting food producers and consumers.

This is an opportunity for a fairer deal where it really matters to our communities – I hope that the government will engage with this Bill constructively to deliver on these goals.

Scottish Government admits it failed to conduct safeguarding review

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today criticised the Scottish Government for failing to complete a promised review of safeguarding in relation to elected representatives and their access to vulnerable groups. It committed to the review more than four years ago.

During parliamentary scrutiny of the Disclosure (Scotland) Bill in 2020, Mr Cole-Hamilton lodged amendments, which were intended to bring MSPs within the scope of the legislation. These included requiring them to comply with Disclosure Scotland’s Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme which helps to ensure people who are unsuitable to work with children and protected adults cannot do regulated work with these vulnerable groups.

Mr Cole-Hamilton’s amendments were rejected by the Scottish Government. However, during Stage 3 of the Disclosure (Scotland) Bill, Maree Todd, on behalf of the Scottish Government, proposed to commission and fund an independent review, to be chaired by ministerial appointment, that “would consider the issue of safeguarding in relation to elected representatives”.

Now, a new request on behalf of Mr Cole-Hamilton to the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, answered by the Scottish Government, has confirmed that this review never took place.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said:

This is a serious and considerable failure on the part of the Scottish Government.

Nobody else is allowed to be alone with children or vulnerable adults without a basic check being done first, but there is nothing legally to prevent MSPs from doing that. There cannot be one rule for politicians and another for everybody else because history and inquiries have exposed the dangers of self-policing.

I want experts to tell us how best to safeguard against the threat of people working in politics using their status to manipulate, target and exploit vulnerable people.

We are now on our third children’s minister since the commitment to commission and fund an independent review was made. How best to implement such a change deserves proper scrutiny, but for successive SNP ministers to simply do nothing is deeply disappointing.

You can’t promise a review in order to convince MSPs to vote against my proposals being included in the bill, and then claim that there is no need to conduct a review because it wasn’t included in the bill.

The Scottish Government need to apologise to Parliament and set out a timeline for this long overdue review to get to work.

Minister visited Skye House just months before cruelty allegations surfaced

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today said that visits to Skye House, Scotland’s biggest children’s psychiatric hospital, appear to have ‘skimmed the surface’.

His comments come as a series of parliamentary questions revealed that the Scottish Government’s Minister for Mental Wellbeing visited the hospital just months before allegations of cruelty came to light.

Mr Cole-Hamilton asked the Scottish Government whether any official ministerial visit to Skye House had ever taken place. In response, the Minister for Mental Wellbeing indicated that she last visited Skye House on 4th September 2024. This was just five months before allegations of a culture of cruelty at the facility came to light.

The Mental Welfare Commission visited the facility on seven occasions, but failed to raise issues of abuse, neglect and cruelty which were subsequently revealed in a BBC Disclosure documentary.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said:

I understand that no one ever wants to see mistreatment happen at these facilities, but the Scottish Government’s response to the Skye House allegations has been exceptionally poor.

We now know that the minister visited Skye House just months before the allegations came to light. This was not an inspection, but it contributes to the sense that visits and reports all skimmed the surface.

Liberal Democrats secured a parliamentary statement on Skye House, but at no point during that statement did the Scottish Government explain whether the Mental Welfare Commission is properly empowered to act in cases like these. They completely failed to explain why original allegations were missed. These should be basic questions for the government to answer.

Patients and families need to have faith in the system. They deserve to know what safeguards are in place and what steps are being taken to prevent this horrific situation from ever happening again.

Severn Estuary Commission Report – Get on with Building the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon

Responding to the report published today by the Severn Estuary Commission, Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS said:

We have a ready-made plan to harness the tidal energy of the Severn already and have done so for years.

It was a huge mistake by the Conservatives to cancel the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon and this new Labour Government should rectify that mistake by reviving the project and simply getting on with it.

Tidal power offers huge advantages to Wales, not only in generating electricity but in its potential to create well-paid jobs. The UK Government seems perfectly happy to spend large amounts on infrastructure in the South East of England, its time they made some investments in Wales.

Rennie responds to damning evidence session on funding crisis at Dundee University

Responding to the evidence session at the Scottish Parliament’s Education Committee, during which the interim principal of Dundee University admitted there has been ‘incompetence’ at the top of the institution, as MSPs heard it could run out of cash by the end of June, Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Willie Rennie MSP said:

The oppressive environment at the top of Dundee University prevented alarm bells from being raised. It shut down any questioning about the performance of the university and the evident financial problems.

The independent investigation must get to the heart of this and those responsible must be held to account.

But the government have got their heads in the sand over university funding. Dundee is in an extreme position, but many other institutions are facing very strong headwinds that the government are refusing to acknowledge.

That is why we need urgent cross-party talks on the future of our universities sector, but so far the SNP seem reluctant to hold them.