• Trust in SNP hits new low
• Cole-Hamilton to Swinney: When will communities properly benefit from renewables projects?
• Greene responds to Ardrossan Harbour news
• SNP and Greens kill addiction recovery bill

Trust in SNP hits new low

Responding to an embargoed survey which shows that satisfaction with the Scottish Government has fallen to its lowest level on record, with satisfaction in the NHS at a new low, Scottish Liberal Democrat Willie Rennie MSP said:

Satisfaction in John Swinney’s government is the worst in the history of the Scottish Parliament and is even lower than Humza Yousaf’s.

It’s time for a change.

Cole-Hamilton to Swinney: When will communities properly benefit from renewables projects?

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today said that local communities are “shivering in the shadow of turbines” as he challenged the First Minister on the Scottish Government’s outdated guidance, which means local communities are not properly benefiting from hosting renewable energy projects.

Speaking during First Minister’s Questions, Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

When companies generate renewable energy, they are expected to give money back to the local community.

But the amount of cash we’re talking about is absolutely pitiful because the rules haven’t changed in more than a decade.

All the while, people are still shivering in the shadow of turbines, unable to heat their homes.

So will the Scottish Government listen to the Liberal Democrats, to Highland Council, to Shetland Council, and change those rules to cut energy bills for local people?

He went onto say:

Yesterday, I was in North Edinburgh with Ed Davey and Councillor Sanne Dijkstra-Downie. We met Edinburgh College apprentices who are being trained for good green jobs: installing home insulation, solar panels, heat pumps.

Technologies, ready to go, and at the heart of the Liberal Democrats’ realistic plan to halve household energy bills by 2035.

John Swinney’s own independent advisors now say his government is “extremely unlikely” to meet its fuel poverty target.

They found people catching hypothermia in their own homes, missing meals to top up the meter, burning their own floorboards for fuel.

The Scottish Government’s consultation on the amount energy companies give back closed six months ago. But nothing’s changed.

Under Liberal Democrat proposals, there are millions of pounds out there, that could warm homes across Scotland, so when will the First Minister change those rules?

Greene responds to Ardrossan Harbour news

Responding to reports that a price has been agreed in principle for the purchase of Ardrossan harbour from its private owner, Scottish Liberal Democrat transport spokesperson and West Scotland MSP Jamie Greene said:

It’s encouraging to see some long-overdue progress on the sale of Ardrossan Harbour, but this situation should never have been allowed to drift on for so many years.

The focus must now turn to the full redevelopment of the port, and that work needs to begin without delay. Estimates already put the cost north of £170 million, so the real question is how quickly the Scottish Government will act to finally make the harbour fit for purpose.

Communities on both sides of the water have suffered real economic harm through no fault of their own. I continue to urge ministers to extend the Island Resilience Fund to support Ardrossan businesses that have suffered, and will continue to suffer, while this work takes place.

SNP and Greens kill addiction recovery bill

Speaking after the SNP and Scottish Greens voted down the Right to Addiction Recovery (Scotland) Bill at stage 1 this evening, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

This was the last opportunity in this session of Parliament to properly debate legislation that could play its part in stopping people dying from drugs and alcohol misuse.

Too many people seeking help are still turned away, told to wait, or simply lost in the system.

While we were sceptical of some of the proposed costings and the risk of creating expectations that current services simply cannot meet, and the lack of provision for harm reduction in the Bill, I would rather have seen Parliament work through these issues and see whether a practical and workable bill could have been crafted.

Instead the SNP and the Greens have chosen to sell people struggling with drug and alcohol misuse down the river once again.

With this bill now blocked from proceeding I hope that they will now back Scottish Liberal Democrat proposals for supporting alcohol and drug partnerships, rolling out a nationwide network of safe consumption rooms, new drug checking facilities and giving people who are misusing drugs treatment instead of prison.