• McArthur: SNP must confirm that they won’t dump another climate target
• More than 400 solicitors withdrawing from legal aid schemes in just 3 years

McArthur: SNP must confirm that they won’t dump another climate target

Scottish Liberal Democrat climate spokesperson Liam McArthur has called on the SNP government to confirm that they will not dump their target to decarbonise the passenger rail network by 2035 after the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero failed to mention this deadline during an exchange in parliament.

Speaking in the Scottish Parliament earlier this week, Mr McArthur asked Gillian Martin, Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy, if she would reaffirm her government’s commitment to removing diesel passenger trains from service by 2035.

In response, Ms Martin said that the Scottish Government is committed to decarbonising the passenger rail network but made no mention of its target to do so by 2035. The Cabinet Secretary indicated that she would ask the Transport Secretary to provide Mr McArthur with further details.

Commenting after the exchange, Mr McArthur said:

Although the Cabinet Secretary indicated that the government is committed to decarbonising our passenger rail network, any mention of doing that by 2035 was conspicuously absent from her response.

In the past, the SNP have announced targets in one breath and ditched or missed them in another, all because they haven’t put in the work to make them achievable.

The climate emergency merits a serious response backed up by tangible action. That is why I hope the Transport Secretary will provide reassurances that this is not simply the latest target to be dumped.

More than 400 solicitors withdrawing from legal aid schemes in just 3 years

Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP has today warned that the Scottish Government is not doing enough to reform legal aid in Scotland, as research by his party uncovered marked drops in the availability of legal aid across the country.

Figures obtained by the Scottish Liberal Democrats from the Scottish Legal Aid Board show that:

• Between 2021 and 2023, 439 private solicitors have withdrawn from court duty plans in towns and cities across Scotland;

• Between 2021 and 2023, 304 private solicitors have withdrawn from police duty plans in towns and cities across Scotland;

• There are now no private firms or solicitors on police duty plans in Aberdeen, Banff, Falkirk, Jedburgh, Kirkwall, Livingston, Lochmaddy and Selkirk;

• There are now no private firms or solicitors on court duty plans in Kirkwall and Lochmaddy, while Banff, Fort William, Lanark, Lerwick, Lochgilphead, Portree and Wick have just 1 private solicitor, respectively, on a court duty plan.

In April, it was reported that the Law Society of Scotland had withdrawn from the Legal Aid Renumeration Project and Research Analysis Group, set up by the Scottish Government. A spokesperson for the Society explained that “[no] tangible progress has been made” and that they had “lost confidence in any positive outcome.”

Mr McArthur has previously raised the issue with the Minister for Victims and Community Safety in the Scottish Parliament, highlighting that if current trends continue, many rural and island areas could become so-called legal aid “deserts.”

Mr McArthur said:

Over recent years there has been a marked drop in the availability of criminal legal aid. Those who continue to undertake legal aid work are having to cover an ever- larger area. All of this has the potential to harm some of the most vulnerable members of our communities.

I am extremely concerned by the figures which suggest there are either no or very few private solicitors taking part in duty schemes in rural and island areas. It highlights that those who live in these areas could be paying the greatest price for the Scottish Government’s inaction.

The Law Society’s withdrawal from talks must act as a wake-up call to ministers. They need to deliver meaningful reform of the legal aid system, rebuild confidence within the sector and ensure access to justice for everyone in Scotland wherever they live.