• Lib Dems warn of ‘Trumpian purge’ as Jenrick targets 35 Judges
• Lib Dems demand Labour publish any legal advice sought on alleged “blocking” of Chinese spy trial
• Greene brings childcare debate to parliament
• August 2025 the worst August on record at A&E
• Operations activity stagnating below pre-pandemic levels
• Cole-Hamilton: SNP have ripped up promises on delayed discharges
• Rennie: SNP have barely moved an inch with cladding work
• Rennie responds to survey showing teachers taking second jobs

Lib Dems warn of ‘Trumpian purge’ as Jenrick targets 35 Judges

Responding to reports that if the Conservatives were elected, Robert Jenrick would seek to dismiss 35 judges due to perceived activism, Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson Jess Brown-Fuller said:

Robert Jenrick’s comments on removing independently appointed judges are deeply troubling and show just how far some Conservatives are willing to go to undermine our judiciary. The Conservative Party claims to believe in the rule of law, but now seems to be actively undermining it.

The idea of making it easier to sack judges for perceived ‘activism’ is straight out of the Trump playbook. The fact Jenrick has named 35 judges for this Trumpian purge is more than alarming, it’s a chilling signal of the threat to the rule of law under any potential Conservative government.

Our judges must be free to interpret and apply the law without fear of political retribution. Undermining that principle strikes at the very foundation of British democracy, a principle the Liberal Democrats will fiercely defend.

Lib Dems demand Labour publish any legal advice sought on alleged “blocking” of Chinese spy trial

The Liberal Democrats are calling for Labour to publish any legal advice the Government sought on the planned trial of two men accused of spying for China, erstwhile parliamentary staffer Chris Cash and academic Christopher Berry.

The party is also calling on the Intelligence and Security Committee to launch an investigation into the abandoned prosecution. The committee oversees the operations of the UK intelligence community – including MI5, MI6 and GCHQ – and has access to classified evidence under the Official Secrets Act.

Calum Miller MP, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, said:

These latest revelations show that the Government would prefer to block an investigation into espionage at the heart of Westminster, rather than rock the boat with Beijing. Its campaign of cosying up to President Xi is now actively threatening our national security.

The Intelligence and Security Committee should launch an urgent review into this case. It’s also critical that the Government publishes any legal advice it sought and received.

Threats to our democracy cannot be swept under the rug. It’s time that this Government grew a backbone in its dealings with China. It was wrong not to recognise China’s threat and place it on the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme – and should reverse that decision today.

Greene brings childcare debate to parliament

Speaking ahead of his members’ business debate on childcare, Scottish Liberal Democrat West Scotland MSP Jamie Greene said that many parents feel “unfairly treated” because of the gaps in funded places under the SNP.

On Tuesday, Jamie Greene will bring a members’ debate to the Scottish Parliament on the importance of funded childcare in helping parents return to work and giving children the best start in life.

While funded childcare is available to every child in Scotland after they turn three, the Scottish Government do not guarantee that it will be delivered on the day after the child’s third birthday. As a result, funded places can be delayed until the start of the school term following a child’s birthday.

In practice, this means some parents are missing out on months of free childcare, simply because of where they live and where their child’s birthday falls in the year.

Scottish Liberal Democrats are calling for ministers to end this postcode lottery by guaranteeing national funding so that every child in Scotland is entitled to a funded nursery place from the day of their third birthday.

Commenting ahead of the debate, Jamie Greene said:

Having kids is an expensive business and it is not made any easier by the current postcode lottery that parents are facing under the SNP.

It means some families could be denied months of funded childcare, simply because of where they live and when their child’s birthday falls in the year.

That seems desperately unfair to working families who are doing all they can to make ends meet.

In a modern, 21st century Scotland, parents should have the full support of the government in balancing their careers with having children. That’s why my party want an expansion of publicly funded childcare, giving every child the best start in life and helping parents get back to work. This should be backed up by increased support for private, voluntary and independent nurseries, preventing a loss of staff from the sector and giving parents more choice when accessing care.

August 2025 the worst August on record at A&E

Responding to new figures showing only 68.9% of people attending A&E were seen within the 4 hour target in August 2025, which is the worst performance against the target for any August on record, while 14,904 people waited over 8 hours and 5,953 waited over 12 hours, Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

Record long waits in the summer must act as an urgent warning to the Scottish Government over the potential crisis looming in the winter.

Staff and patients are already trapped in pressure cooker conditions, even without the additional pressures that the winter brings. They need to see action now from the SNP Government to relieve pressure.

We are seeing these long waits at A&E because too many people are unable to leave our hospitals as they can’t get the care package they need to leave safely.

Fixing the problems in social care would help to increase capacity in hospitals and help to tackle these A&E waits. That’s why Scottish Liberal Democrats fought for more money for social care in the budget and back a new UK-wide minimum wage for care workers that is £2 higher.

Operations activity stagnating below pre-pandemic levels

Responding to figures which reveal that, in the last 12 months, operations activity remains 12.5% lower than the 12-month period from September 2018 to August 2019, before the pandemic disrupted activity, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

These figures clearly demonstrate the SNP’s failure to get the NHS back on track following the pandemic. They are letting staff down and leaving patients in pain.

Countless SNP health secretaries have promised the earth for our NHS but delivered next to nothing.

Scottish Liberal Democrats believe people should be able to get the care they need when they need it, but that’s just not happening right now. What our NHS truly needs is a change of government.

Cole-Hamilton: SNP have ripped up promises on delayed discharges

Responding to new Public Health Scotland figures showing nearly 2,000 people (1,953) were stuck in hospital at the August census due to their discharge being delayed, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

The SNP have ripped up their decade-old promise to end delayed discharges. Their failure to provide proper care at home and in the community has left 2,000 people stuck in hospital beds on a typical night, creating bed shortages for new patients and longer waits in A&E.

Our health and social care service deserves better than this. Only the Scottish Liberal Democrats have a realistic plan to solve this problem. We would create a new UK-wide minimum wage for care workers, £2 higher than the national minimum wage, to tackle the chronic staff shortages in care and make social care a profession of choice again.

Rennie: SNP have barely moved an inch with cladding work

Scottish Liberal Democrat communities spokesperson Willie Rennie MSP has today said that the SNP government “have barely moved an inch” in removing dangerous cladding from buildings.

The Scottish Government publishes information on Single Building Assessments (SBAs) every month. SBAs assess any risk to human life as a result of cladding.

New figures show that as at 30th September:

• Just 16 SBAs have been completed.
• No further SBAs are underway.
• This is despite the government’s cladding remediation programme having received 1,062 Expressions of Interest (EOIs)- the mechanism that allows building owners to request an assessment from the government.

Willie Rennie said:

In the shadow of the Grenfell Tower disaster, the SNP government have barely moved an inch with removing dangerous cladding.

They are moving even slower than the slow pace of the UK Government, all because they wanted to do it differently.

In Scotland, the hundreds of expressions of interest show the huge latent demand for support in dealing with cladding, but the SNP have spent years failing to meet it.

By moving so sluggishly, the SNP government are gambling with peoples’ safety. It’s high time they got their act together.

Rennie responds to survey showing teachers taking second jobs

Responding to the new survey from the NASUWT teaching union showing 14% of teachers now have a second job and that 31% are very worried about their financial situation, Scottish Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Willie Rennie MSP said:

The financial worries for teachers start from day one. Just one in four newly qualified teachers finds a permanent teaching post. I’ve met teachers for whom precarious work means they can’t get a house or start a family. Others have left careers in industry only to find there are no jobs going at the end of their teacher training.

Scottish Liberal Democrats recently led a debate at Parliament highlighting how teachers are worried about paying the bills and have been let down by poor workforce planning. Teachers deserve better, and with the Scottish Liberal Democrats you can vote for it.