• One in five GPs nearing retirement in some areas as Government’s 10 year plan risks “not touching the sides”
• Lib Dem Bill passes in Commons – MP says animal welfare will be “transformed”, bill will end pet mutilation
• Jardine secures government progress on supporting bereaved children
• Chamberlain: Vote Lib Dem peach to get Scotland back to its best
• Greene warns investment needed after litany of failures at Ferguson Marine

One in five GPs nearing retirement in some areas as Government’s 10 year plan risks “not touching the sides”

Thousands of GPs are nearing retirement age with some areas seeing close to a quarter aged over 55, research by the House of Commons Library commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.

The party has said that the Government’s 10 year NHS plan risks “not touching the sides”.

The Government’s 10 year plan for the NHS includes the recruitment of thousands more GPs in the coming years but the analysis shows that this may not be enough to replace the number of GPs set to retire over the next decade.

The data shows that 5,717 GPs are aged over 55 at the end of 2024/25 with that number having risen by 150 since March 2023. It represents around one in seven of the full time equivalent GPs in England, including trainees.

The analysis also found that in some areas almost one in four GPs are approaching retirement. In North West London and Mid and South Essex, 24% of the GP workforce is aged over 55, the highest rates in the country. They were followed by North East London on 21%. Overall, 17 of the 42 Integrated Care Boards had seen a rise in the proportion of GPs nearing retirement age.

The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Government to boost GP numbers by 8,000 through incentivising more experienced GPs and nurses to return, including more opportunities for junior doctors and increasing training facilities.

This would be geared towards giving patients a legal right to see their GP within seven days or 24-hours if in urgent need.

Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper MP said:

The Government’s plans for GP recruitment risk not touching the sides in the face of this retirement ticking time bomb. With an ageing population and many GP practices already at breaking point these plans could simply be treading water rather than delivering the change that people are desperately crying out for.

Botched IT roll outs under the Conservatives have dashed people’s faith in the Government’s ability to actually deliver on these kinds of projects and Labour has provided little detail on how they can actually make this happen.

These plans also risk putting up barriers to digitally-excluded older and vulnerable people accessing the health care they need, if there is no additional appropriate support made available to them.

By plonking the social care crisis in the too hard basket once again, this is not a plan to save the NHS, instead it is the most expensive sticking plaster in history.

Lib Dem Bill passes in Commons – MP says animal welfare will be “transformed”, bill will end pet mutilation

Liberal Democrat MP Danny Chambers’ Private Members’ Bill has passed through the Commons today [Friday 4 July], with the Government backing the Bill. The vet MP said the move will “eradicate” dangerous puppy smuggling and end “serious public health worries” about the spread of disease associated with imported pets.

Lib Dem MP Danny Chambers’ Private Members’ Bill has passed in the Commons, and will move to the Lords for final approval with Government backing.

The MP is also celebrating a year since his election today.

The bill will ban the import of pets with cropped ears and who are heavily pregnant. Ear cropping is already illegal practice in the UK, seen as a cruel, unnecessary procedure made exclusively for aesthetic reasons, but it can cause serious harm and infection in pets. With the import loophole closed, there will be no legal way to obtain pets with these kinds of mutilations in the UK. Ear and tail modifiers will no longer have an excuse to carry out the practice, “transforming” animal welfare and “eradicating” cruel practices that endanger the wellbeing of cats and dogs subject to the mutilation.

But Danny Chambers also pointed to the public health issues associated with puppy smuggling, including dogs who are imported while heavily pregnant or at a very young age to the UK, who are rarely checked for diseases like rabies. Vets and other public health experts in the sector are seriously concerned about the health and wellbeing of dogs and animals illegally imported into the UK as well as their potential infection of animals already resident here. This bill would curb concerns about potential public health threats caused by the illegal import of dogs.

Danny Chambers, vet and Lib Dem MP for Winchester, said:

I’m so proud that this Bill has passed in the Commons. It will stop pet mutilation in Britain once and for all. This legislation will transform animal welfare in the UK and eradicate cruel practices that should have been wiped out years ago.

We are now one crucial step closer to closing the loopholes that allow that kind of animal abuse to happen in this country. Mutilated animals can face horrendous injuries, infections, and psychological issues, which vets like myself see each and every day.

Even more worryingly, the illegal smuggling of puppies has long caused serious public health worries that dangerous diseases could be brought back into the UK. This bill will curb those concerns – stamping out savage practices that endanger animals everywhere.

When I became an MP, one of my many goals was to use my veterinary expertise to highlight significant animal welfare issues such as this. I couldn’t be happier that within the first year of this parliament, we will be able to put an end to this practice of puppy smuggling and ear cropping and, crucially, protect public health.

Owen Sharp, CEO of Dogs Trust said:

For too long dogs have suffered at the hands of unscrupulous breeders and criminals who have taken advantage of loopholes to mistreat innocent animals, all to make money with no care for their welfare.

We are delighted that the Puppy Smuggling Bill has now passed the House of Commons Stage, a huge step for animal welfare, which means we are one step closer to this dreadful trade becoming a thing of the past.

Jardine secures government progress on supporting bereaved children

Scottish Liberal Democrat equalities spokesperson and Edinburgh West MP Christine Jardine has secured progress from the UK Government in improving support for bereaved children, which could potentially result in changes being implemented for affected families more quickly, without the need for legislation.

Last year, Ms Jardine reintroduced her private members bill, the Bereavement Support (Children and Young People) Bill, that requires clear guidance to be given to councils, schools and other public bodies on how to ensure every bereaved child knows where to find bespoke support.

Leading charities such as Winston’s Wish offer individual or group counselling sessions and other online services, but there is currently no process for notifying a bereaved child of where they can access support.

The Scottish Liberal Democrat MP has now met the Children’s Minister, Catherine McKinnell, to find ways to make these changes more quickly, potentially without needing to pass her bill into law. This includes through the government’s new cross-departmental Bereavement Group.

Ms Jardine said she was “pleased” with the minister’s commitment to supporting bereaved children, including improving access to support services, and that she hopes to see further progress before the new date for her Bill’s Second Reading debate in September.

Christine Jardine MP said:

I was delighted to secure commitments from Minister McKinnell on progressing support for vulnerable children after a loss, increasing access to bereavement and grief support.

After meeting two Conservative ministers before the general election, and getting warm words of support but little action, I am delighted to see the Labour government finally recognising there is a problem for young people trying to access bereavement support.

I’m pleased Minister McKinnell has listened to Liberal Democrat calls on improving access to mental health practitioners and bereavement support in schools, and it is promising that there seems to be a recognition that we must do more to support children at times when their teachers cannot.

I will continue to push the government’s new cross-departmental Bereavement Group to put bereaved children front and centre, so no child is without the support they need, when they need it.

I look forward to seeing more progress on these vital issues before my Bill returns later in the year.

Chamberlain: Vote Lib Dem peach to get Scotland back to its best

Marking one year since a record-breaking result at the general election, Scottish Liberal Democrat deputy leader Wendy Chamberlain MP has said that only her party will get Scotland ‘back to its best’, as she urged people in every part of the country to vote for the Liberal Democrats on the peach regional ballot paper at next May’s Scottish Parliament election.

Since the general election, Scottish Liberal Democrat MPs have been campaigning on a number of important issues affecting constituents right across Scotland.

This includes Highland MP Angus MacDonald leading a Westminster Hall debate on the need for greater financial investment in rural communities impacted by large-scale energy infrastructure. Orkney and Shetland MSP Alistair Carmichael has also introduced the Food Supply Chain Fairness Bill in the UK Parliament, which aims to get fairer prices for farmers and food producers across the UK.

More widely, Scottish Liberal Democrats are calling on the UK Government to rethink their tax hike on family farms and exempt GPs and social care providers from the national insurance rise.

Wendy Chamberlain MP said:

A year ago today, people across vast swathes of Scotland and the UK put their trust in the Liberal Democrats.

That record-breaking result saw us treble our seats in Scotland, overtake the Scottish Conservatives and ensure Liberal Democrat representation at both ends of the iconic West Highland Way, with Susan Murray in Milngavie and Angus MacDonald in Fort William. Since then, we haven’t stopped: from Angus working to deliver real community benefits from renewable energy projects for the Highlands, to Alistair Carmichael pressing the UK Government to rethink their family farm tax.

But the problems holding Scotland back were not just caused by the Conservatives. For eighteen years, SNP failures have pushed our NHS to brink and kept our economy bouncing along the bottom.

Only the Scottish Liberal Democrats are offering a vision of Scotland that is back to its best. That’s why we’re on the up, making gains across the country, left, right and centre.

That vision is one where people can see their GP and NHS dentist in good time, where our children receive a world-class education, where the government looks after your money and works with our neighbours, in the rest of the UK and Europe, to realise the potential of our economy.

Next May, people in every corner of the country will have a chance to end two decades of SNP failure and send Liberal Democrat local champions to the Scottish Parliament- everyone can do that by marking a cross next to our name on the peach regional ballot paper.

Greene warns investment needed after litany of failures at Ferguson Marine

Scottish Liberal Democrat economy spokesperson Jamie Greene has today warned that the Scottish Government must develop a clear plan of action for Ferguson Marine as a damning new parliamentary report highlighted a series of failures at the shipyard in Port Glasgow.

The Scottish Parliament’s Public Audit committee’s report into its consideration of the Auditor General’s 2023/24 audit of Ferguson Marine (Port Glasgow) Holdings Limited, published on Friday 4th July, warns that urgent investment is needed to secure the yard for the future and highlights a series of repeated failings, including leadership and board instability, inadequate internal audit, serious weakness in contractor oversight and governance failures around exit packages for senior staff.

Responding to the report, Jamie Greene, who is also Public Audit Committee deputy convenor, said:

This damning cross-party report catalogues a litany of failures of government, its agencies and those at the top of this whole sorry mess.

The Scottish Government has done incalculable damage to the yard’s reputation since it forced its nationalisation. I really feel for workers who have been through the mill.

Put simply, there will be no Ferguson Marine in the future unless the SNP government urgently comes up with the goods in terms of investment and a pipeline of new work.

A revolving door of well-paid executives have done little to turn around the yard’s fortunes and all the while the SNP are handing contracts to Poland and Turkey rather than bolstering Clyde shipbuilding.

Despite half a dozen transport ministers and a half-a-billion-pound saga for taxpayers, still no heads have rolled in the Scottish Government. When is John Swinney going to set out who he thinks is culpable for this mess?