• Rennie secures major overhaul of qualifications quality assurance after history exam row
• Greene: Nationalists failing to deliver as Scottish economy shrinks
• Dozens of pro-independence accounts go dark after Israeli strikes on Iran
• National Insurance rise leaves Welsh universities with a £18 million a year bill
• SNP financial strategy is late, incompetent and unsustainable

Rennie secures major overhaul of qualifications quality assurance after history exam row

Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Willie Rennie has secured a series of significant reforms to the Scottish Government’s Education Bill to strengthen the oversight and quality of national qualifications, following widespread concern over this year’s Higher History exam and the lack of external scrutiny within the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA).

The changes, agreed with the Cabinet Secretary and passed at Stage 3 of the Bill, will ensure greater transparency, external accountability, and a clear pathway to further reform of accreditation functions across Scotland’s education system.

The package of amendments includes:

• Immediate improvements to how Qualifications Scotland assures quality, including an independent review, an annual compliance report, and a new independent expert group to advise on standards.
• A statutory review of the scope and location of the SQA’s current accreditation function, which covers mainly post-school vocational qualifications.
• Timetables and mechanisms to ensure that if ministers conclude that further legislation is needed, they must bring forward changes within a year or explain to Parliament why they are not acting.

Willie Rennie said:

The scandal over this year’s Higher History exam showed how unsatisfactory it is that the SQA inspects itself with its quality assurance arrangements. I’ve worked constructively with the Cabinet Secretary to build a stronger system that fixes this and lays the groundwork for lasting reform.

There was no consensus on quality assurance and accreditation changes but I am clear that the current set-up just isn’t good enough. My amendments deliver immediate improvements and a structured, evidence-based route to deeper reform.

The SQA and its replacement, Qualifications Scotland, are under new leadership and will have an big opportunity to change. These amendments give them that chance, but make clear that if further reform is needed, it will be delivered.

Greene: Nationalists failing to deliver as Scottish economy shrinks

Scottish Liberal Democrat economy spokesperson Jamie Greene MSP has today said that the SNP are out of time to turn the Scottish economy around as new figures showed that Scotland’s GDP contracted in April and revised figures showed that it contracted by more than previously expected in March.

New monthly GDP estimates published today show that Scotland’s onshore GDP contracted by 0.2% in April. This follows a contraction of 0.4% in March 2025 (revised from a contraction of 0.2%).

Jamie Greene said:

This is bad news for jobs and for people’s pay packets. There is obviously a lot of turmoil going on in the world right now but that is why building a solid economic foundation is so important.

Scotland needs an economy that is robust, resilient and growing. But after years of SNP mismanagement it is clear the nationalists will never be able to deliver that.

Put simply: they will never care as much about the Scottish economy and the public services it supports as they do about their real goal, which is driving a wedge between Scotland and the rest of the UK.

If you want a sensible, growing economy and decent public services then it’s time to vote Scottish Liberal Democrats and turf the SNP out of office once and for all.

Dozens of pro-independence accounts go dark after Israeli strikes on Iran

Responding to reports in the UK Defence Journal that dozens of anonymous X accounts advocating Scottish independence abruptly went silent after Israeli strikes on Iran, leading to suggestions that they were part of an Iranian bot network, Liberal Democrat Scottish Affairs spokesperson Christine Jardine MP said:

It looks like it might have been Iran putting the cyber in cybernat. The nationalists like to claim that they are a grassroots movement, but these accounts seem to have been more autocrat than Alba.

I would be interested to know how often these accounts were shared and interacted with by members of the Scottish Government and the SNP.

This should serve as a reminder that hostile regimes think that the breakup of the UK would be in their best interests.

It is also a reminder to be sceptical and not to trust everything you read online.

National Insurance rise leaves Welsh universities with a £18 million a year bill

Information uncovered by the Welsh Liberal Democrats has shown that the UK Government’s decision to increase national insurance has left Welsh Universities with £18 million a year additional bill to pay.

According to the Welsh Liberal Democrats, this rise in employer costs threatens to deepen the existing crisis in Welsh higher education. Many institutions are already being forced to cut staff, close courses, and manage growing deficits in an increasingly difficult financial environment.

Following questioning by Lib Dem MP David Chadwick at the Welsh Affairs Committee today, Welsh universities admitted that the rise in national insurance contributions had come as a surprise to them and that the financial implications had added to an already poor environment Welsh universities are operating.

One Vice Chancellor admitted the national insurance hike had directly impacted their staff restructuring programme (staffing cuts) and their ability to meet pay rise demands by staff.

Cardiff University is set to be hit the hardest by the national insurance increase, with a predicted £6.7 million annual increase, while Swansea University will also face an additional £3.5 million burden each year.

The £6.7 million figure from Cardiff University represents the equivalent of 30% of the £22 million the university has said it needs to make in savings.

Welsh universities are grappling with a perfect storm of falling student numbers, reduced real-terms funding, and rising operational costs. The UK’s exit from the EU has also led to a decline in foreign students, previously a large revenue source for Welsh universities.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have stated that at a time when institutions are being asked to do more with less, the £18 million now having to be spent on meeting national insurance contributions could be far better spent supporting teaching, research, and student services or could have helped avoid redundancies being pushed through by almost every Welsh university currently.

Commenting, Welsh Liberal Democrat Westminster Spokesperson David Chadwick MP said:

Labour’s jobs tax is yet another blow to Welsh universities, coming at a time when they’re already facing mounting financial challenges. It’s completely unacceptable that Welsh universities are now being saddled with millions in extra costs just to meet a tax increase that could and should have been avoided.

Our universities are not just centres of learning, they are vital employers and economic drivers in their communities. At a time when we should be investing in higher education to boost innovation, create jobs, and attract talent, this government has chosen instead to place a punitive burden on them.

That £18 million could have helped avoid some of the redundancies now being pushed through by universities right across Wales.

This is why the Welsh Liberal Democrats opposed this rise from the start. Instead of investing in the future of our young people and protecting skilled jobs, Labour has chosen to penalise the very institutions that help power our economy and society.

SNP financial strategy is late, incompetent and unsustainable

Responding to the Scottish Government’s medium term financial strategy, Scottish Liberal Democrat economy spokesperson Jamie Greene MSP said:

The SNP’s economic thinking is late, incompetent and unsustainable.

There’s next to nothing in here about how to help small and medium sized enterprises which are the backbone of our economy. There is next to nothing on how the government will lower the burden of red tape or make it more attractive for people to start a business.

There is also nothing about getting people back to work by tackling health and mental health waits. We are spending millions on social security for people who could get back to work if they could get the operation or mental health support that they so badly need.

If you want a sensible, growing economy and decent public services then it’s time to vote Scottish Liberal Democrats and turf the SNP out of office once and for all.