• Number of lung cancer patients not treated within two-month standard rises by 40% with some waiting more than a year
• Winter Fuel Payments: Govt needs to complete world’s slowest u-turn
• Cole-Hamilton reveals constituencies with most sewage spills and those with no monitoring
• Greene urges government to keep a record of online sextortion offences

Number of lung cancer patients not treated within two-month standard rises by 40% with some waiting more than a year

The number of lung cancer patients not treated within the 62-day standard from a referral has risen by 40% since 2019 to 3,750 last year

One patient waited 481 days to begin treatment following a referral for lung cancer with hundreds waiting longer than four months for care in 2024

Liberal Democrat MP Clive Jones, a cancer campaigner and cancer survivor himself, has now written to the Health Secretary following the closure of the call to evidence for the National Cancer Plan demanding a target for 100% of patients beginning treatment within 62-days

The number of lung cancer patients waiting longer than the 62-day referral to treatment standard has risen by 41% since 2019, with 3,750 patients enduring waits of at least two-months last year, Freedom of Information requests (FOIs) by Lib Dem MP Clive Jones’ office have revealed.

Jones’ office received responses from 65 of the 144 NHS Trusts meaning the true number of lung cancer patients not treated within the 62-day standard is likely far higher. From those Trusts that did respond, it showed that those treated outside of the 62-days rose from 2,660 in 2019, to 3,750 last year, a rise of 41%.

The data also revealed the number of people waiting more than four-months to receive treatment, more than double the time expected for the standard. It showed 717 people last year waiting at least four-months, double 2019’s figure of 356. Trusts also responded with the longest time that someone had waited to begin lung cancer treatment with Bedfordshire Hospitals reporting a wait of 481 days.

NHS Trusts are given a target of treating 85% of patients within the 62-day standard. The FOIs revealed that 55 of the 65 Trusts who responded missed that target, with some Trusts seeing three-quarters of patients treated more than 62-days after a referral.

15 of the Trusts who responded had at least half of their patients being treated outside the 62-day standard with Medway seeing 74%, Surrey and Sussex 69% and Norfolk and Norwich 68% of patients treated outside this window. At Whittington Health Trust a staggering 40% of patients were treated at least four-months after a referral.

Liberal Democrat MP for Wokingham, a cancer campaigner and cancer survivor himself, Clive Jones has now written to the Health Secretary following the closure of the call for evidence for the National Cancer Plan to demand a number of measures. These include a binding target to begin treatment after a referral within 62-days, targeted screening for prostate cancer and sustainable capital funding for radiotherapy machines.

Liberal Democrat MP for Wokingham, Clive Jones said:

After surviving my battle with breast cancer, I know all too personally how scary getting a diagnosis can be and the impact it can have on yourself and your loved ones.

Rebuilding our cancer services after years of neglect under the Conservatives has to be right at the top of the political agenda. It touches too many, either through our own battle or watching a loved one suffer, to be left in this state any longer.

That is why I have written to the Health Secretary to lay out some immediate measures that he could take to alleviate this suffering and give all those that have to go through this anxiety and pain the best chance of coming out the other side.

Winter Fuel Payments: Govt needs to complete world’s slowest u-turn

Commenting on Angela Rayner’s interviews on the Sunday shows this morning, where she refused to give clarity on Winter Fuel Payments, Lib Dem Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

Millions of pensioners were plunged into uncertainty and financial turmoil last winter by the Government’s callous decision to strip Winter Fuel Payments. They deserve clarity, not continued confusion and mixed messaging from the top.

The Government needs to accept that this policy was doomed from the start and complete what is becoming the world’s slowest u-turn.

Cole-Hamilton reveals constituencies with most sewage spills and those with no monitoring

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today revealed the Scottish Parliament constituencies with the most sewage spills as well as those with no annual monitoring, as he urged the SNP to stop ignoring the problem and finally get tough on sewage dumping.

New analysis by his party reveals that a third of Scottish Parliament constituencies did not have any sewage overflows with full annual monitoring data.

Of the constituencies which were monitored, Argyll and Bute had the highest number of sewage dumps, with 2,693 in 2024.

Aberdeen South and North Kincardine saw the highest volume of sewage dumped, with 10,770,099 cubic meters of sewage dumped.

Across Scotland in 2024, sewage was dumped 24,398 times. However, the problem is likely to be far worse because, unlike in England, only a small fraction of sewage overflow points have full annual monitoring data.

Scottish Liberal Democrats have launched plans for a Clean Water Act that 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.

Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

Every SNP MSP should be looking at the figures for their constituency and demanding the Scottish Government takes the sewage crisis far more seriously.

SNP ministers have become spin doctors for the government-owned water company and its outdated standards. Bosses are taking home bumper bonuses while millions of litres of sewage get dumped into our rivers, lochs and beaches.

Sewage was dumped 24,398 times last year, yet even that figure is likely to be a huge underestimate since so few overflow points are fully monitored. A third of constituencies lack full annual monitoring data whatsoever. In England, at least there is proper monitoring that provides a more accurate sense of the scale of the problem.

To turn the tide on this scandal, Scottish Liberal Democrats have published plans for a Clean Water Act that would bring our sewage network into the 21st century, clamp down on dumping and get to the bottom of this disgusting practice.

Greene urges government to keep a record of online sextortion offences

Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Jamie Greene has today called on the Scottish Government to ensure that the police record how many sextortion offences take place online.

His call comes after Justice Secretary Angela Constance MSP conceded in a response to a written parliamentary question that:

Whilst statistics are available on the number of people prosecuted and convicted for both Threats and Extortion and Threatening to disclose an intimate image, these do not specifically identify cases that happened online and may include non-sextortion type incidents.

Mr Greene said:

I was shocked to discover that no data exists for exactly how many sextortion cases have taken place online in Scotland.

More and more of our lives are taking place on the internet and with that new types of offences are coming to the fore. It’s important that our justice system keeps up with this changing world.

Whether online offenders are motivated by financial gain, sexual exploitation or malicious control, we need to ensure that support is there for victims and that resources are directed effectively to tackle these horrendous crimes.

I want to urge Police Scotland and the Scottish Government to record data on online sextortion cases so that we can begin to understand how frequently these cases are taking place and put in the place the right measures to help victims.