Author Archives: Alex Cole-Hamilton

Sometimes you have to sit down and talk if you want to get things done.

By any metric the SNP are failing the people of Scotland. An early election had already been ruled out (Labour are abstaining). It’s why all along we’ve been trying to shape the Scottish Budget to unpick some of the damage the SNP have done over the last 18 years.

The result? Our priorities will now be backed by hundreds of millions of pounds of government investment. Thanks to the Scottish Liberal Democrats, the Scottish Budget now includes:

This is all on top of what Scottish Liberal Democrats secured in the first rounds of talks:

• The reinstatement of a winter fuel payment for pensioners.>
• Extra funding for social care.
• Additional funding for local healthcare to make it easier to see a GP or NHS dentist.
• Funding for new specialist support across the country for Long Covid, ME, Chronic Fatigue and other similar conditions.
• The right for family carers to earn more without having support withdrawn.
• Progress on business rates relief for the hospitality sector.>
• Funding to build more affordable homes.
• Ringfenced agriculture funding.
• More money for local council services.
• Enhanced support for local authorities operating ferry services.
• More money for additional support needs to help pupils and their teachers.
• Replacements for the Edinburgh Eye Pavilion and the Belford Hospital in Fort William.

It’s a long list that will improve the lot of our constituents, and of people right across Scotland, which is why we will be backing this year’s Scottish Budget.

We cannot underestimate the importance of getting things done, especially in the current climate. Right now, public services are on their knees, the direct casualties of the SNP’s mismanagement. You can see it in the people ringing their GP surgeries hundreds of times a day to get an appointment, the care homes struggling to find staff and Scottish education slipping down the international rankings. Many businesses are struggling to make ends meet and affordable housebuilding has collapsed.