A day later than usual, as I was busy being “gloriously” re-elected as Chair of Creeting St Peter Parish Council…

• Davey on UK-EU deal: “positive first steps” but PM must ignore Reform and Conservative “dinosaurs”
• Youth Mobility Scheme: UK needs “explicit details” not “woolly commitments”
• UK-EU deal: with “more ambition” economic benefits could have been “ten times greater”
• Scottish Water failure to follow up Holy Loch spilling “woefully complacent”

Davey on UK-EU deal: “positive first steps” but PM must ignore Reform and Conservative “dinosaurs”

Responding to reports that the UK and EU have reached a deal to be announced later today, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

These seem to be some positive first steps in rebuilding our relationship with Europe after years of a Conservative Party that wrecked trust and broke our relationship with our closest allies.

The Prime Minister must ignore the naysayers and dinosaurs in Reform and the Conservative Party and be more ambitious in getting the best deal in the national interest.

Youth Mobility Scheme: UK needs “explicit details” not “woolly commitments”

Responding to reports that a youth mobility scheme has been agreed only in principle, Liberal Democrat Europe Spokesperson, James MacCleary MP said:

After months of flip-flopping, it appears the Government won’t get a youth mobility scheme over the line today.

That’s incredibly disappointing – we need more than just a woolly commitment. While an agreement in principle marks progress after months of Lib Dem pressure on this issue, we should have been able to negotiate a scheme at today’s summit, rather than kicking the can once more down the road.

The Government must make it an urgent priority after talks end to map out explicit details on how and when the youth scheme will be introduced.

UK-EU deal: with “more ambition” economic benefits could have been “ten times greater”

Responding to reports that today’s UK-EU deal will only add 0.2% to UK GDP by 2040, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

This agreement marks a first step towards addressing the damage done by the Conservatives. But with more ambition, the economic benefits of today’s deal could have been up to ten times greater, even within the Government’s existing red lines.

The Government has got to show far more ambition if we are to truly unlock the benefits of a renewed relationship with our European partners for communities across the UK.

It’s time to be bold, and build on these first steps. Liberal Democrats will continue to push the Government to break away from the divisions of the past, using today’s agreement as a stepping stone towards a new bespoke Customs Union. This would unlock vital new opportunities for British businesses and boost our economy in a meaningful and lasting way.

Scottish Water failure to follow up Holy Loch spilling “woefully complacent”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton and candidate for Argyll and Bute Alan Reid have today branded Scottish Water’s failure to follow up on analysis by Environmental Standards Scotland (ESS) into sewage being dumped into the Holy Loch even on dry days as “woefully complacent”.

In its report into sewage dumping in Scotland the ESS identified 31 potential instances where sewage was dumped at the Ardnadam sewage pumping station on dry weather days. Sewage dumping on dry days is considered to be more damaging to the environment because discharges will not be diluted by rainfall.

The ESS report mentions Scottish Water and SEPA have identified 12 overflows at risk of spilling on dry days, however the ESS suggested this figure is likely an underestimate.

A Scottish Liberal Democrat freedom of information request asked Scottish Water whether they had conducted any follow up analysis into the risk of dry spilling into the Holy Loch near Dunoon. Their response was that “Scottish Water can confirm that we have not carried out any follow up investigations as a result of ESS’ assessment of DWF (Dry weather flow) overflow risk in Dunoon.”

Scottish Liberal Democrats have announced plans for a Clean Water Act which would see:

• Scotland’s Victorian sewage network updated;
• Every sewage dump monitored and published with binding targets for their reduction;
• A blue flag system for Scotland’s rivers;
• A complete ban on the release of sewage in protected areas such as bathing waters.

Alan Reid said:

Scottish Water’s failure to conduct any follow up investigations into ESS warnings about dry spilling in the Holy Loch is woefully complacent.

Dry spilling is especially dangerous to the environment because sewage discharges will not have been diluted at all by rainwater

The ESS directly told Scottish Water and SEPA that it was underestimating the scale of the problem, so to sit on their hands and not at least investigate the potential issues raised in Dunoon is simply not good enough.

This is another example of the Scottish Government letting down residents on the west coast.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

The Scottish Government needs to get serious about sewage dumping in Scotland and stop being spin doctors for the outdated standards of the government owned water company.

To turn the tide on this scandal, Scottish Liberal Democrats have published plans for a Clean Water Act that would see a clamp down on discharges and get to the bottom of this disgusting practice.