Alex Cole-Hamilton announced today that Lib Dem MSPs would support the SNP’s budget next week. This does not in any way mean that we’ve suddenly become fans of the SNP Government but it does mean that we’ve managed to get some measures put in the budget to repair the damage they have done to Scottish public services rather than wait for their likely defeat in the elections in 2026.
Since Labour announced in early January that they would abstain on the Budget, any chance of bringing the Government down and forcing an election disappeared. They got absolutely nothing for getting the SNP out of trouble. We, however, by that point had already got money for things like Winter Fuel Payments next year, Long Covid clinics, social care, replacements for the Belford Hospital in Fort William and the Edinburgh Eye Pavilion. In January, our negotiators did even better securing investment in colleges for training in skills to benefit the renewable energy sector, funding for hospices, and funding for specialist treatment for babies born addicted to drugs.
Alex Cole-Hamilton explained:
The final list of what we have achieved is pretty impressive and remarkably similar to the kind of things we’ve been banging on about for years.
- Further investment in drugs and neonatal services totalling £2.6m, with a special focus on creating new services to help babies who are born addicted to drugs.
- £3.5m so that colleges can deliver the skills our economy and public services need, with new programmes focused on care and offshore wind to create a pipeline of skilled workers.
- Allocating in the budget £700k worth of support for the young people with complex and additional needs attending Corseford College in Renfrewshire, and at least the same amount again the next year.
- £1m more for hospices.
- Ahead of the Infrastructure Investment Plan, the party has persuaded the Scottish Government to look much more closely at replacing the Gilbert Bain Hospital in Lerwick, Kilmaron Special School in Cupar and Newburgh Railway Station in Fife.
- Focusing ScotWind revenues on growing the economy, creating jobs, tackling climate change, and driving forward reform.
- The reinstatement of a winter heating 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.
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
Follow @libdemvoice.org on Bluesky
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
F10 is passed overwhelmingly. Now the work begins...
Blackness Road - 1967 #dundeewestend
Torchwood is now a Cardiff Bay institution
Rising Damp: Rigsby burning love wood outside Miss Jones's hut
Paul Duffy selected by Lib Dems for Runcorn & Helsby by-election
Alex Macfie
Craig Levene
theakes
Thelma Davies
Simon R
3 Comments
The achievements by Scottish LibDems are creditable, and they are right to support the SNP Budget. But they are already under fire (noticeably from Alba) as blocking advances in Scottish self-government, being lumped in with the Tories and Labour by Nationalists. The need is to make clear that LibDems stand for Federalism rather than for Unionism, by calling for and promoting the need for further powers over Scotland’s internal services to be devolved.
As a resident of the Lothians, I would suggest to Mr Winfield that after the demise of Alex Salmond, Alba are a spent force. A look at the electoral fate of Kenny MacAskill will confirm this. The Scottish Lib Dem party has much more to worry about in terms of the number of derelict constituency parties in, for example, former strongholds such as the Borders and Aberdeenshire.
All these things that the SNP want to fund are very worthy. But the last time I looked the Scottish government was running a budget deficit north of £20bn p.a. We don’t doubt that they are good a spending money but isn’t it appropriate that we at least ask where the money is coming from ? (Answers that don’t begin with “Barnet” please).