Author Archives: Ailsa Macdonald

Lib Dems need to practise what we preach on Federalism

By Ailsa Macdonald | Sun 7th January 2024 - 2:00 pm

Did you get excited when you got the Party’s email about our manifesto? How we are going to save the environment, based on our core values and vision? I did.

Then I made the mistake of actually reading it and I discover that our environment stops at the Scottish Border. 

I’m not naïve. This is a “sound bite” email. I don’t expect us to do into the nuances between the water company Scottish situation and that in England and Wales; that most of our sewage discharges don’t require to be recorded, as Neil Alexander has been highlighting in Moray; that  Scottish Water is publicly owned. After all, we still pay ludicrous bonuses to the top men (yes; they are men) and no-one seems to try to hold the Scottish Government to account for the failings of “the top water company in the UK”

But then we get to the specifics…

We will

✅ double the size of the Protected Area Network 

The Protected Area Network is the creature of Natural England. There is no equivalent here.

 ✅ Strengthen the Office for Environmental Protection and increase funding for the Environment Agency and Natural England. 

Not a dickie about Environment Standards Scotland, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency/Scottish Water or NatureScot.

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