Royal College of Radiologists report: if Government “doesn’t take its head out of the sand” patients will “pay the price”

Responding to two reports by the Royal College of Radiologists, which revealed that 9 in 10 cancer centre leaders reported delays to patients starting treatment, and 7 in 10 were concerned about staff shortages putting patient safety at risk, Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson Helen Morgan MP said:

This report should be yet another wake up call for Ministers that they cannot ignore the crisis in cancer any longer. We are seeing waiting times grow longer and the rate of early diagnosis stall, with the Government at risk of sleepwalking through a disaster while patients face dangerous delays and overstretched NHS staff are left at breaking point.

If the Government doesn’t take its head out of the sand and act now, it is patients who will pay the price. The upcoming NHS workforce plan must rapidly expand the number of cancer nurses and modernise treatment before more lives are put at risk.

The Liberal Democrats have long been campaigning to ensure the conditions are in place to guarantee patients can start their treatment within two months of an urgent referral to get them the care they deserve.

Zia Yusuf resignation: leading UK DOGE by example

Responding to Zia Yusuf resigning as Reform UK Chairman, Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper MP said:

By sacking himself, Zia Yusuf seems to be leading the “UK DOGE” by example. You have to admire his commitment to the cause.

It’s already clear Reform UK cannot deliver for the communities they are elected to stand up for. Instead, they have copied the Conservative playbook of fighting like rats in a sack.

Lib Dems make final pitch to Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse voters

Scottish Liberal Democrat candidate for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Aisha Mir has made her final pitch to voters, pledging a vision of a Scotland that is back to its best.

Aisha Mir is a businesswoman, Children’s Panel member and carer who has also served as the party’s spokesperson for human rights and older people.

She has been active in a number of projects & campaigns supporting unpaid carers, welfare for the elderly, human rights, diversity and inequality.

Aisha Mir, Scottish Liberal Democrat candidate for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, said:

For too many people, it feels like nothing works anymore.

The SNP have failed Scotland for eighteen years. The Conservatives are lurching to extremes. Labour are already letting people down. Reform have no real solutions.

I’m in politics to get things done. I want to be a hard working local champion who will put your priorities first.

Only the Scottish Liberal Democrats are offering you a vision of a Scotland that is back to its best.

A Scotland where people can see a GP and an NHS dentist in good time.

A Scotland that once again gives our children a world-class education.

A Scotland with a growing economy and growing businesses, where the government looks after your money and works with our neighbours.

Vote Scottish Liberal Democrat for a candidate who is focused on what really matters to you.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

Last year, Liberal Democrats had our best result for a hundred years, defeating the SNP in huge swathes of Scotland and overtaking the Scottish Conservatives too.

We have a record of winning and momentum behind us.

In Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse voters have a chance to back a local champion who will speak up for residents on the issues that matter most, like swift access to local healthcare.

At next year’s Scottish election, every voter will have a chance to elect a Scottish Liberal Democrat local champion to represent their region.

Scotland has worst shortage of oncologists in UK

Responding to two new reports from the Royal College of Radiologists, which warn that cancer patients in Scotland are facing dangerous delays to life-saving scans and treatment and Scotland has the worst shortage of clinical oncologists of any UK nation, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

These are among the most damning reports into medical care in Scotland that I have ever read.

This is a matter of life and death, with early intervention being crucial to chances of survival.

The government’s cancer strategy risks becoming meaningless to everyone suffering these long waits.

What’s more, access to screening programmes, diagnosis and treatment is especially bad in rural areas. To ensure patients receive early intervention, it is vital that the government stamp out this postcode lottery.

We need serious investment in both diagnostics and staff now. The Health Secretary needs to pull out all the stops and prove that things can get better on his watch. Staff and patients are tired of being continually failed by a government that can’t match its words with action.

Local MP uncovers rail funding scandal

David Chadwick MP calls for devolved rail powers and investment in the Heart of Wales Line after ‘shocking’ £6.6bn project delivers nothing for Wales

Following a written parliamentary question from David Chadwick MP, the UK Government has confirmed that Wales will receive no funding uplift from the £6.6 billion East-West Rail project between Oxford and Cambridge, despite the entire scheme being based in England.

The decision follows a pattern of major rail projects (including HS2) being wrongly classed as “England and Wales” schemes, meaning Wales is denied the funding it would otherwise receive through the Barnett formula. The classification was revealed by local Liberal Democrat MP David Chadwick following a written question in Parliament, which was answered by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport Simon Lightwood.

Speaking in the House of Commons today, David Chadwick MP condemned the decision as “shocking” and called on the UK Government to urgently devolve full powers over rail infrastructure to Wales, so future English projects can no longer be used to side-line Welsh investment.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats estimate that Wales would have received over £360 million in consequential funding from the East-West Rail project alone. Independent experts estimate Wales has lost over £4 billion as a result of similar misclassifications in recent years.

The party continues to campaign for this project to be reclassified as “England only,” for a fair funding settlement for Wales, for full devolution of transport infrastructure to the Senedd, and for sustained investment in Welsh rail services, including long-overdue improvements to the Heart of Wales Line.

Commenting, David Chadwick MP said:

It is simply indefensible that Wales continues to be frozen out of hundreds of millions in rail funding for projects that do not lay a single centimetre of track in our country. We saw this with HS2, with Northern Powerhouse Rail, and now again with East-West Rail. Time after time, Wales is left behind.

It is clear that someone in this Labour government is out to deliberately short-change Wales. The only way forward is to devolve full powers over rail infrastructure to Wales so we can make decisions that serve our own communities.

Wales must be able to invest properly in its own rail network. That includes delivering serious improvements to the Heart of Wales Line, which has been neglected for decades.

Investment in lines such as the Heart of Wales Line would make a meaningful difference to Wales, unlike a rail project hundreds of miles away between Oxford and Cambridge. This line is a lifeline for rural communities, supporting jobs, education and tourism, and it deserves the same level of ambition and investment as rail services elsewhere in the UK.

Cole-Hamilton: Does the First Minister mind ‘absolutely honking’ sewage dumps?

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today asked the First Minister whether he minds that his government’s own water company is dumping huge volumes of sewage into Scotland’s rivers, lochs and seas, amid new research showing thousands of complaints from members of the public about the problem.

Research by the Scottish Liberal Democrats has revealed thousands of complaints about sewage across Scotland since 2022.

Speaking in the Scottish Parliament, Mr Cole-Hamilton asked the First Minister:

Sanitary towels and wet wipes on the beach at North Berwick.

Raw sewage in Gala.

A beach covered in thick brown discharge in Dumfries and Galloway.

The River Almond making swimmers sick.

Paddle boarders covered in sewage in the River Tay.

Today, on World Environment Day, the Scottish Liberal Democrats are publishing new research showing thousands of complaints from members of the public about sewage.

Sewage that is, I quote, ‘absolutely honking’ in Dingwall.

Presiding Officer, songs were written about Scotland being the land of the shining river.

Does the First Minister mind that his government’s own water company is dumping so much sewage into them?

Responding to the First Minister, he went on to say:

Last year, Scottish Water dumped sewage at least 24,400 times.

The lack of monitoring means that’s only a fraction of what’s really going on.

Scottish Liberal Democrats are calling for a new act of parliament, a Clean Water Act, to tackle this. Because under the SNP, communities are just expected to put up with it.

Presiding Officer, last week, Thames Water got fined £100 million for sewage dumping.

But there are never any consequences here in Scotland.

Is that because the First Minister knows it is actually his government that’s at fault for this absolutely honking problem?