Willie Rennie will today unveil the party’s “bold, positive and progressive plans to make Scotland the best again” as he launches the Scottish Liberal Democrat manifesto.
He will set out ambitious proposals for a transformational investment in education, a step-change in mental health services, the protection of our environment and guaranteeing Scots’ civil liberties.
Speaking ahead of the launch, Willie said:
Scottish Liberal Democrats offer an ambitious, positive and uplifting programme for Scotland.
The Liberal Democrats are back to our best. Scotland should be the best again too.
Our programme for Scotland is ambitious and progressive. We are offering the biggest investment in education since devolution, new plans for mental health services, new laws to guarantee our civil liberties and new investment so we can exceed our climate change targets.
To embed these proposals in government policy over the next five years we need more Liberal Democrat MSPs in Parliament. And thanks to the combination of our bold and optimistic proposals and our record of action in Holyrood over the last five years, the party is set to grow again at this election.
Voters can count on Liberal Democrats to devote the next five years to making Scotland the best again.
It’s all happening in a couple of hours’ time at a children’s soft play centre. It’s jungle themed, presumably to ensure that there are no embarrassing pictures of pigs…
* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
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One Comment
Having read through the manifesto this morning there are undoubtedly some good policies or ideas in the manifesto. Investing in education, opposing the ID database, drastically improving mental health care and fighting against the continuing centralisation of the SNP are all very welcome.
However, there are also some omissions or negatives. Despite the Liberal Democrats supporting the Named Person Legislation in the vote at Holyrood, I do feel that continued support for the draconian legislation is wrong. The Scottish Conservatives will repeal it and really we should be too. By supporting it we are essentially saying that government interference in the lives of children and families across the country is desirable. It is not and it is fundamentally illiberal.
Other issues I would have is the push towards drug legalisation and a weakening of the laws. I do agree that far more focus on rehabilitation of non-serious drug related offences is necessary as opposed to a sole strategy of crackdown and punishment, but I wouldn’t look for wholesale reduction in treating it as a criminal offence. Or indeed support the legalisation of any drugs.
I also see that the party will support the opt-out on organ donation within the next parliament. Again, this is not a liberal policy and may force people onto the register without them realising it. Furthermore, if an evidence approach will be made to GM technology and crops why can’t it be made to organ donation? Thus far evidence is mixed. I believe that an opt-out system has been tried in Spain and did not bring a huge upwards difference in terms of donations.
Despite some criticisms, it is clear that only the Liberal Democrats that will stand up against a continuing power grab towards Edinburgh. The Lib Dems believe in our communities, where as the Conservatives, Labour and the SNP will all continue to centralise power.