- National debt: The Conservatives trashed the economy
- McArthur responds to health committee’s summary of assisted dying consultation responses
- Cole-Hamilton: We should empower communities to help tackle antisocial driving
National debt: The Conservatives trashed the economy
Responding to the national debt reaching 100% of GDP for the first time in decades, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:
Today’s figures are yet more proof of the terrible state in which the previous Conservative government left our public finances.
Even though the Conservatives trashed our economy, the government can’t use that as an excuse to make the wrong decisions, such as cutting winter fuel payments and leaving vulnerable pensioners worried about the cold months ahead.
Ministers must take action to repair our public finances in a fair way, by asking big banks, the oil and gas giants and global social media corporations to pay their fair share of tax.
McArthur responds to health committee’s summary of assisted dying consultation responses
Responding to the Health Committee publishing a summary of responses received in response to its call for evidence on Liam McArthur’s Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, which shows that a majority of respondents were supportive of the bill, Mr McArthur said:
Our current laws on assisted dying are failing too many terminally ill Scots, often leaving them facing an undignified and sometimes painful death despite the very best efforts of palliative care. It is clear that a new compassionate and safe law is required.
The committee is right to note that responses to this call for evidence will be self-selecting and members will need to decide what weight to attach to the different submissions. However, I would like to thank those organisations and individuals that have taken the time to respond to the Committee’s call for evidence.
I was pleased to see a majority of respondents declaring their support for my bill and rightly emphasising the importance of reducing suffering and upholding personal dignity and autonomy.
The bill I have put forward will give terminally ill, mentally competent adults the option to control the manner and timing of their death. It will introduce practical measures that make end-of-life care safer and fairer for all. It is based on evidence and grounded in compassion. Safety is woven into the fabric of the bill with measures to assess eligibility, protect against coercion, ensure rigorous medical oversight and robustly monitor every part of the process.
We can see from some of the harrowing testimonies to the consultation that what we have right now does not work to keep dying people, their families and other vulnerable people safe. I look froward to making the case for greater choice and compassion to the committee as they undertake their detailed scrutiny of the bill.
Cole-Hamilton: We should empower communities to help tackle antisocial driving
Speaking at COSLA’s annual conference today, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP highlighted the idea of giving councils the power to install and operate speed cameras in their areas so that communities are empowered to help tackle antisocial driving.
It comes as Mr Cole-Hamilton called on the First Minister and the Scottish Government to address racing and antisocial driving across the country, after chairing a community meeting in South Queensferry where residents discussed the prevalence of the issue.
Commenting on the proposals, Mr Cole-Hamilton said:
Up and down the country, people are having their quality of life destroyed by hundreds of high performance, illegally modified cars and motorbikes racing around their beautiful towns.
Hotels have lost trade, pets have been killed, nobody is getting any sleep. Communities feel helpless, like they have no other option than to put up with this racing and antisocial behaviour.
I believe that we can help tackle this criminal behaviour by giving councils the power over speed cameras in their areas, enabling them to install the cameras in known hotspots. With these powers, councils could also use the revenues from speeding fines to support residents and the wider community.
This already happens in English local authorities and the Scottish Parliament has the power to allow Scottish councils to do the same.
Communities know their areas best, which is why they should be empowered to deploy local solutions to local problems.
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8 Comments
Might the foundation of the previous government’s deliberate neglect of our infrastructures, without which a humane and productive society cannot be developed, or even maintained, be the callous and so inefficient enforcement of Austerity/Neoliberalism?
Might the current government be making the same ideologically blind mistake?
Might the L D Party speak out and act, clearly and boldly, against. this continuing doctrinaire disaster?
Disappointing that Daisy Cooper is just going for the usual inaccurate trope about banks not paying a fair share of tax (in fact banks already pay a corporation tax surcharge so generally pay more than other businesses, assuming there’s no hidden tax avoidance going on), but she’s right to blame the Tory Government for the state of our finances.
Steve, the previous Tory Government wasn’t pursuing austerity – it was basically spending money left right and centre without apparently much thought for where the money was coming from – hence the dire state of our public finances (with a big contribution from Covid era spending too). The short Liz Truss era was an awful example of the worst excesses of that – and of what happens to the economy when you don’t seek to control spending. They were also somewhat interventionist, so not particularly ‘neoliberal’ (other possibly than Liz Truss’s abandoned plans)
Surprising though it may seem, you actually can’t realistically blame every single one of our problems on ‘Austerity/Neoliberalism’ 😉
Japan has a National Debt which is 250% of GDP. Most countries, including the USA have a similar level of debt to our own
If you think it’s such a problem for us all you need to explain why.
Might Austerity have been a stated policy of the previous government as introduced by Mr Osborne?
What have been the actual benefits of Austerity for regular citizens and their children?
Upon what did the previous government spend money, right, left and centre, which brought actual benefits to regular citizens and their children?
@ Simon R
“Surprising though it may seem, you actually can’t realistically blame every single one of our problems on ‘Austerity/Neoliberalism’ ”
You’re probably right but I’m hard pushed to find examples to support your statement. The extent of air pollution in the cities could be a candidate. It could actually be worse if our economy was more vibrant unless we took stronger measures to limit it.
However, on the big issues for Lib Dems, such as Brexit, austerity has been a huge factor. Not just in the UK but in the EU too. It wouldn’t have happened without it.
Why is the national debt a problem? Well, consider that the UK Government currently spends about £100 Bn a year on debt interest (https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn06167/). That’s a lot of money that can’t be spent on the services we all want! High debt also makes it harder to maintain the investor/consumer confidence that we depend on for economic stability. Remember the 2007 economic crash was caused amongst other things by excessive debt (albeit not held by Governments).
I’m not sure what aspect of our infrastructure lack Steve is seeking to blame on ‘neoliberalism’ but one counter-example is that the NHS crisis has developed despite (or in part because?) the NHS is run on largely socialist lines (one monolithic Government controlled system).
Air quality in our cities is steadily improving even as our economic system has become more market oriented. In the 20th century, it was far worse in Soviet countries than in the West. That’s all hard to reconcile with any claim that pollution is caused by ‘neoliberalism’ (I realise you weren’t claiming that). Arguably the level of pollution reflects what we as a society are prepared to accept rather than the economic system.
I’d argue the main benefit of austerity for ordinary people is a more stable economy, leading in the long run to being more likely to keep your job, and not see your earnings eroded by high inflation. We complain about the 2010 austerity period yet seem to forget the state the economy was in just before then.
@ Simon,
“…….the UK Government currently spends about £100 Bn a year on debt interest….. That’s a lot of money that can’t be spent on the services we all want! ”
This argument applies to you and I. We’re households. It applies to your local council It’s a household in economic jargon too. It doesn’t apply to a National govt which is a currency issuer.
So the services we all want aren’t limited by the ££ that the currency issuer can issue. They are limited by the real resources in the economy. The level of interest paid is a political decision decided by government which includes various BoE committees. If the interest rate is lower than the inflation rate any disadvantage is with the lenders. It’s not at the moment which is why interest rates do need to come down.
Austerity is essentially a counter inflation policy. If demand needs to be reduced to match supply then it’s in order to raise taxes and/or reduce spending to ease inflationary pressures. It’s not necessary to appease the bond vigilantes. That’s largely a bogeyman argument. Keeping the economy on an even keel, ensuring that we have some growth and inflation is kept sensibly in check is all that is required.
Let the currency float and make speculators fight it out amongst themselves. That way the government won’t make the same mistakes which led to Black Wednesday in 1992.
Antisocial behaviour is a symptom of a disconnected society. So strengthing our spatial communities must be a large part of the solution. Everyone needs to feel they are part of and are a respected and valued part of society. A basic Income gurarantee would help achieve this.